so… I watched Food Inc. last night… Seriously thought I was going to have nightmares!! Lots of thoughts rumbling around in my head last night & this morning… trying to get them sorted out & get something coherent written. However, I am still a little disheartened & pretty pissed off about the whole state of things!! Not that I didn’t know the basic sitch, but just seeing the vastness of the problem laid out like that was pretty overwhelming…
21 Dec
I WILL Make a Freakin’ Pie this Year!!
So… last year about Thanksgiving time we received (in our CSA share) a pumpkin. This was no ordinary pumpkin – it was a “pie pumpkin”. A glorious orange orb grown for the express purpose of being made into a pumpkin pie. Which I intended to do. Day after day… Week after week… And yes, even month after month… Until…
One day last spring (yes, SPRING) my husband came in from the garage (where I was keeping the pumpkin) & asked for the 100th time “What do you want to do with this pumpkin?” I said what I had always said…
Me: “I am going to make a pie”
Him: “Um, I don’t think so”
Me: “Yeah huh – as soon as I have a chance”
Him: “You’d better have a look”
Suffice it to say that the pumpkin was beyond any use whatsoever & had, in fact, started to rot & collapse in on itself in such a way that it had now become something of a jack-o-lantern quite on its own. 
Fast forward to this fall & another “pie pumpkin” in our CSA share. It has been sitting in the coolness of our garage for 3 weeks now but, I promise… this is the year… I WILL make a freakin’ pumpkin pie!! 
Stay tuned… 
Pumpkin Pie recipe: http://www.pickyourown.org/pumpkinpie.php
More info on pumpkins: http://allaboutpumpkins.com/index.html
17 Dec
Office Recycling Update
The recycling bin I put in the kitchen area of my workplace today was really well received. I am looking forward to seeing if people actually start using it… I wonder if it is like the tip jar @ coffee houses… should I bring some stuff from home to put in there to give people a hint??
16 Dec
Office-Wide Recycling
So… my latest experiment in greening up my workplace involves recycling… We already have secure recycling for all paper waste. I actually put some of the junk mail that I don’t want to put in my curbside recycling bin (credit card offers & such) in our secure recycling bin. However, we have a soda machine in our kitchen area & I frequently eat canned soup (organic black bean veggie chili = yum!!) for lunch. Plus, I have noticed that other people bring in lots of stuff that could be recycled that just goes into the trash bin. Unlike the coffee grounds thing from last week (which I have been doing for two years or so), the recycling bin is something I have been thinking about for quite some time but, haven’t pursued. Thanks for inspiring me to get off my butt & get something done.
Today, I went to the Facilities Manager to ask if there were any rules prohibiting my bringing in a recycling bin. There are not . Next was a stop @ HR just to make sure there weren’t any toes being stepped on – the HR people ALWAYS want to be in the loop. Beyond that I just decided to do it & ask for forgiveness later if somebody objects. It will be interesting to see how much plastic/glass/etc. gets collected versus thrown out when people have the option. I will keep you posted
8 Dec
Coffee (Grounds) Anyone?
First, let me apologize for the delay in getting this out… I was sick all weekend & got a little behind… it happens to the best of us
I cannot even imagine the amount of coffee grounds that are destined for the landfill each day… every office building has @ least one coffee/break room – my building has three. Coffee grounds in land fills contribute to the creation of methane (greenhouse gas = bad). If you are reading this I am going to assume you understand & care about the dangers of methane. If you want a refresher, you can research it here. Clearly, the more “stuff” we can keep out of the landfills, the better off our planet will be in the long term. Now, I am not saying you have to do anything as drastic as track down coffee grounds @ your local coffee house. In fact, so many people are doing just that that I regularly have a hard time finding a coffee shop with grounds available. Plus, remember… This is a Start Where You Are, Use What You Have, Do What You Can, It Will Be Enough dealio. So, if you have a coffee/breakroom/Kitchen in your workplace – just start there. When I started collecting coffee grounds from my workplace I just brought in an old plastic cookie dough tub that was left over from a school fund raising purchase, made a label in MS Word ( I know Microsoft = Ugh!! But it is the standard here 
) “Used Coffee Grounds Here Please”, then took the container home each Friday. Some grounds I used still wet, some I spread on a cookie sheet to dry. Simple
Along with the many uses for leftover coffee (which I am not covering here), there are so many uses for used coffee grounds that you will have no problem finding something to do with the grounds you collect from your workplace. So much so that you will start to wish your colleagues would drink more coffee Here are just a few ideas:
- Worm Bin – Simply mix with shredded paper when starting a new tray instead of using coir or just throw the grounds in (filter & all) as you get them. About a cup per week will keep your worms happy & healthy
- Composter – Throw the used grounds in the composter to help with nitrogen balance. Coffee grounds are considered a “green” material so don’t overdo it here either.
- Animal Repellent – Coffee grounds around your garden will keep the neighborhood cats (or your own) from using it as a litter box. You can even combine with orange peel waste for added protection. Slugs, Snails, Moles, & Root Worms hate coffee grounds as well. Just sprinkle the grounds liberally wherever you have a problem with any of these critters. For flea repellent just rub your pet’s fur with dry grounds & brush through (I also bathe my dog (Kaia) with lemongrass soap which seems to work great as well). For Ants just fill an old can with grounds & place it under cabinets, on window sills, or wherever you want to ward off ants.
- Garden – Used coffee grounds make a great fertilizer! Worked through the soil the grounds will loosen soil (carrots & radishes especially will benefit ), attract worms, & help retain moisture. Conversely, simply sprinkle the grounds in a thin layer atop the soil to help add minerals/nutrients such as nitrogen, magnesium, calcium, & potassium back into the soil & help keep the weeds down. Be careful not to spread them too thickly or they will create a crusty water barrier as they dry. For acid loving plants like hydrangeas, blueberries, roses, evergreens, etc. the more coffee grounds the merrier . Finally, you can make a sort of “tea” from the used grounds… For my garden, I use a wagon full of old cat litter buckets to haul water from the rain barrels to the garden. I put about a cup of coffee grounds into each bucket before filling, wheel the wagon of filled buckets out to the garden & let sit for about an hour. Then water the garden with the nutrient rich coffee ground “tea”
These are the things I do most often with the coffee grounds I collect & I think that is enough for one day. In my next post I will go into some of the more off-the-wall uses (in my opinion ) for the used coffee grounds. For now, if you haven’t already done so, I would encourage you to start your own coffee ground recycling program in your workplace 
3 Dec
Green Up Your Workplace – The SUDI method
So… I was researching ways to “Green Up” my workplace & almost everything I came across was directed @ business owners & ways they could improve their environmental friendliness… you know – the “big” things. What I was looking for was the little things – things I can do to improve the green factor in a workplace where I really have no pull or control. These little things would have to be @ no cost to the company, of course.
Well, I actually came up with a few things & decided to put together a short series on things that I currently do – am planning to do – or wish I could do. The plan is for a 5-part series – one each day next week. Also, if anybody has any ideas or suggestions I would be happy to take a gander & possibly stretch the series into the following week.
Then… As I sat down to write this intro to the series, I remembered a thought that I read somewhere once… I really wish I could remember where I saw it… I think it was in a catalog on a T-Shirt or wall hanging or something like that. Anyway… I like to use it with the programmers on my team when they are feeling overwhelmed with a project (especially documentation ) However, it seems to apply to this situation as well… I call it the SUDI method.
- START WHERE YOU ARE – Start where you are in your “green” journey. You can’t just wiggle your nose & instantly become the Green Jedi you wish to be – You’ve gotta start somewhere & there is no better time or place than where you are right now.
- USE WHAT YOU HAVE – You are capable of doing something… You have a certain set of skills, things that you are better @ than others (fund raising, public speaking, organizing events, motivating others, writing, etc.). Use everything you’ve got – your passions, your connections, your money… Whatever it is that you have in your arsenal can be used in the battle to save our planet.
- DO WHAT YOU CAN – That may mean stretching… what you can ACTUALLY do is often much more than you THINK yourself capable of, or much more than you are comfortable with… but get out there… you may just surprise yourself.
- IT WILL BE ENOUGH – No single person can save the planet. However, I truly believe that if everybody will Start Where They Are, Use What They Have, & Do What They Can – It will be enough
2 Dec
How Your CSA (and a little luck) Can Help You CYA
Have you ever realized on Saturday afternoon that you had company coming for dinner & that you had failed to prepare a menu or shop or anything?!? It happened to me
Technically, it was not on a Saturday & technically I had a full day to prepare had I not had about five other things on my To-Do-List. Nonetheless, my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership totally helped me out in the Cover Your Arse (CYA) department
If you are new to the eating locally game you are going to want to find a Farmer’s Market or CSA near you. www.localharvest.org is a wonderful place to start your search. The CSA option is not the most economical option but, it is a good balance of bang for your buck & social responsibility. Plus, we are eating things that we normally wouldn’t try. Every Wednesday is like Christmas morning… I get to my office, open email, & there is the newsletter with the contents of today’s share – Hooray!! Grass-fed beef, locally made cheese, bread, & pasta, naturally grown zucchini (yes, mooooore zucchini… WooHoo!! Zucchini brownies anyone!?!) What a great way to start hump day!!
Now… If you belong to a CSA, you know that there are certain times of year that fresh produce is plentiful & times when it isn’t. Like life, everything CSA has a season. The fall just happens to be root vegetable season which turned out to be very fortunate for me. The other luck part of the equation was that I had taken a chicken (also from my CSA) out of the freezer & put it in the fridge to thaw the day before. So, knowing that company was coming, I simply dove into the vegetable bins in the fridge & the pantry, pulled out every root vegetable I could find (potatoes, carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, etc.) cut them into bite sized chunks & tossed with olive oil & set them aside. Then I stood the chicken up on one of those things designed to hold a can of your liquid of choice. I rubbed the inside & outside of the chicken with an herbed butter mixture made using local butter & herbs from my garden. Since we are fortunate enough to have several breweries nearby, I simply used a can from the recycling bin (clean, of course ) filled with beer from a local brewery, placed the prepared chicken on a cookie sheet, surrounded it with the vegetables & put the whole thing in the oven for 45 minutes!! It was easy, it was cheap – especially considering that I had everything in the house & the fresh produce might have gone to waste had I not used it that weekend. And… it was fabulous!! If I do say so myself 
So… I love my CSA (www.fairshares.org) & I wouldn’t give it up for anything… even if it didn’t help in the CYA department
23 Nov
Me – With a Bullet!
Okay – technically, the title of this post should be “Me – with a bullet list” but, then would you be reading it right now?? Probably not
So…
I am not the best person to ask about me – others would probably have a truer perception… But, if I had to say something I would say I think I am a little bit of a freak show – a walking contradiction…
- I subscribe to Body & Soul, People, Consumer Reports, Organic Gardening, & Self Healing magazines – a perfect example of the contradiction that is me.
- I am shy if I don’t know you – an open book if I do.
- I think a lot of people are spoiled by the instant gratification that has become so prevalent in the disposable society of today…
- I don’t like when people act like everybody owes them something – rather than taking responsibility for the life they have made via their own choices.
- I believe in telling the truth.
- I believe in letting the people who matter to you know that they do.
- I believe God has provided us with all we need in order to thrive – it is just a matter of using it wisely.
- I don’t like it when people think they can crap all over everybody & then expect that people will always do the right thing by them.
- I love gardening,
- I love hiking with my husband & my dogs.
- I love listening to music, reading, logic problems, crossword puzzles, & cooking.
- I love when people are not afraid to show their affection.
- I love to smile.
- I love to dance.
- I love to play Guitar Hero, RockBand, Dance Dance Revolution & Rayman…
- I try to keep my footprint small by purchasing carbon offsets, buying locally, & being a member of a CSA group.
- I love the smell of incense, patchouli, sandlewood, & lavender.
- I collect smiley faces & tinkerbell stuff.
- My office is filled with fairy art, my basement with sports memorabilia, my music room with concert posters, my mantel with family photos.
- I have a freckled python, 2 dogs, & a cat.
- I have an addiction to music & movies (both of which line the walls of my family room).
- I am a computer geek with a pierced nose (which my husband HATES!! LOL!!)
- Someday I hope to live as “off the grid” as possible on a mountain in Colorado with my husband, my garden & my animals in a house powered by wind & sun.
But, I will always play RockBand, Guitar Hero, DDR & Rayman… thus the contradiction
19 Nov
What’s In a Name?
I guess I should start with my name. It is NOT Shayne. It is Shanyne (shuh-neen). Legend has it that my parents named me that because my father is of Shawnee heritage. Could be true – Although, I am not a registered Native American, my father sure looks like he is Native American & has always embraced many of their beliefs. Anyway, the bottom line is that I have an unusual name, which is kinda cool, & it is not Shayne
18 Nov
Hello world!
Welcome to ShanyneGoingGreen.com. Just in the process of getting things started, so bear with me… more coming soon – Thanks for stopping by!!
