April 17, 2008
It has come to my attention that I am not the only one who wishes we had a Trader Joe’s in Loudoun County. Apparently there is a grass roots effort to attract them to a new shopping center in Ashburn. Hooray! To join this effort all you need to do is fill out Trader Joe’s location request form.
You can fill out as you like, or complete as the masses have suggested:
City: Ashburn
State: Virginia
Comments: Village Center at Belmont Greene
5/26/08 UPDATE: Another local blogger has done some digging on this topic. Here’s what she discovered.
February 19, 2008
Woodend Sanctuary
8940 Jones Mill Road
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
301-652-9188
We love the Audubon Nature Fair, and look forward to attending each year. We picnic with friends, shop for gifts for upcoming events, meet bee keepers, learn about invasive species, find little creatures in the pond, make cardboard binoculars, enjoy performances geared at both kids and all ages and bask in being surrounded by such a wonderful crowd of folks.
This year’s fair will be held on Sunday, May 4, 2008 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the details are all online.
Some pictures from past fairs:
(oops! we’ll get some pics up sooner or later)
January 4, 2008
Just as I was mourning the waste created by our seasonal gift giving and receiving and my own increased impact during visits to homes that don’t recycle or compost I was forwarded a link to a story about a man who saved his trash for an entire year.
I was inspired, so I now have a stash of recycling to bring home from our holiday travels in my suitcase just as Ari Derfel brought home his 16 pounds of trash from Hawaii.
Becoming a parent has had a huge impact of my material footprint. Convenience is tempting when you add juggling a kid (or two or more) to your life, and I choose it more often than I’d like - sometimes it is in the form of disposable diapers, other times it is in choosing a prepackaged food, or driving somewhere instead of walking. I try to walk a line that allows me to reconcile my idealism and intentions with cultural norms and reality, but the idea of saving one’s trash for a year is humbling. It reminds me that I probably err on the side of practical moderation more often than I succeed in modeling true ecological responsibility (whatever that is!).
Our roles as parents bind us to the next generation though, and they will be left sharing this earth with the trash our generation creates - including all those dirty diapers we are changing. I’m not advocating that anyone actually save the dirty diapers, but the idea sure makes a strong case for considering alternatives like cloth diapers, elimination communication, or g-diapers. If you have been considering trying one of these it’s not too late to make it a New Year’s resolution…
November 5, 2007
freecycle.org
According to the website above Freecycle is “a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.”
Your appreciation of freecycle may depend on how active and considerate the group in your area is. My experience has been mostly good. Sometimes people flake and it sucks when that happens, but more importantly…
I have gained many treasures:
- clothes for my kids
- a great dishwasher
- scrap wood for building in the backyard
- rain gutters that we use as ramps for the kids
- and so much more
And I have found homes better than the landfill for many things:
- a broken screen door went to a scrap-booker who will cut it into pieces for framing
- noisy toys that challenged my sanity are driving other parents crazy
- half-used coloring books take up space on someone else’s shelf
- countless other items were picked up from our front yard rather than being carted off to donate
Freecycle groups can generate a lot of email, so it is worth considering creating a separate email account or at least a folder within your email account to keep other messages from getting lost in between all the freecycle offers.
October 27, 2007
Dani’s Duds was the first consignment sale I ever sold at and the second I ever attended. I love hand-me-downs and used items, but had previously written off consignment sales as too much work and too pricey. So this year I sold at Dani’s Duds as much for the experience of selling via consignment as for the money - another momentous mommy experience to add to the memoirs I may never have time to write.
As a seller… Consigning is a lot of work, but if you figure out an efficient system and have the space to save your baby and kid clothes, toys and accessories you can recoup some of your money via consignment sales. There are very specific prep instructions, and it took me a good deal of time to tag all my goods. I felt like a consignment sale addict holed up in my office after the kids went to bed every night the week of the sale. I felt like super mom as I sailed around the Dulles Expo with two kids in tow, a huge wheeled duffel and my sit and stand stroller loaded down with four years of clothes and books putting all my properly tagged items in their places. Then there was a moment when I went back to collect my unsold goods (non of which sold at our garage sale the following week!) while I stepped back and looked at all the parents scurrying around thought “we must all be mad!”
As a buyer… I was blown away by the quantity of items for sale. Things are pretty picked over by the last 2 hours of the sale, but there are still plenty of deals to be had. This is definitely someplace I would shop again.
Tips for success:
- Games are great sellers.
- Smart sellers either decorate their hangers so their unsold goods will be easy to collect or leave their leftovers to be donated to charity.
- Smart buyers sign up for a volunteer shift so they can shop before everyone else.
Overall I am glad I tried the consignment sale thing, and if I forget how much work it was I will definitely try again in the future. Their next sale is scheduled for 5/1-4/2008.
September 16, 2007
This is the website for Mothering Magazine which labels itself as “the birthplace of natural family lifestyle.” Despite the arrogance of that assertion I have found their forums to be kind of online home where I can turn for information on parenting in a style that is gentle on my children and the earth. If you are interested in natural family living or attachment parenting, and looking for a place where you can be encouraged, challenged and inspired this is worth checking out.
