When I grow up I want to be just like Barbara and Michael…
29/03/09 15:31 Filed in: green people | Lucy
When I stepped inside the store I immediately thought, “This is the coolest place!” It really reminded me of the Brattleboro Coop but on a smaller scale. Someday (I hope a day that comes very soon), I believe 24 Carrots will grow to be just as big and great! Barbara and Michael are so warm and compassionate in their store, that anyone who walks into 24 Carrots feels like they are welcome. I like coming back to the store because they are so openly nice that you immediately get into a friendly relationship with them.
Barbara was so quick to jump on board to support GKT that she ordered 10 gallons of Green Keene Teens Laundry Soap from us on Wednesday—when we had just come by to give her a sample and say hello. We were hoping she would use the soap and spread the word. But she wanted to go further and provide a place to sell it!!! Barbara seems super excited about the club. She said, “Lucy, there are some people that just talk about doing things. You actually do them! You’re a do-er and that’s why I’m going to support you!” I couldn’t believe someone would be that quick to jump on the bandwagon without any persuasion. Barbara was so open to supporting us that I feel like she is a long lost aunt that wants her niece to do well. They have even put an ad in the Shopper News about our soap being sold at their store. And they’re talking to the newspaper about doing a bio on our club! I have to say, I’m the happiest girl in the world right now!
We chatted with both Michael and Barbara for a while and got on to the subject of our trip to Costa Rica. Michael lit up because he spent a year in Costa Rica after college and loved it. He wanted to know more about Punta Mona and where it was. After looking the website up really fast, he told us that the island is in the best and most beautiful region of the country. They want to be kept updated on the trip. I’m hoping they might want to chaperone??
I really encourage everyone to go and visit 24 Carrots. Buy what you can there. It is such an amazing place! They are open Tuesday-Saturday from10-7, Sunday from10-4, and closed on Mondays.
Check out their website here: http://www.24cfs.com/
Make a Rice Bag Heating Pad
Get an old T-shirt (any kind of clothing you don’t wear anymore, but preferably stretchy and soft, but NO METALLIC - remember it‘s going into the microwave!)
Cut out rectangles twice the size of however large you want the bag to be (for instance, if you want a medium sized bag, cut out a rectangle the size of a sheet of paper 8x11 inches)
Fold it in half and sew (either by hand or sewing machine) two short sides of the rectangle together with the inside of the shirt facing outwards
Now, the bag should look like an inside-out tube. It should be a rectangle (or square) half the size of what you started out with when it’s lying flat on the table
Sew the bottom of the bag together (still inside-out)
Turn the bag inside-out so that the outside of the shirt is facing out and the inside facing inwards
Fold about an inch of the top of the bag into itself so that the frayed edges are now inside the bag
Pin that part you just folded so it wont spring back out
Put some white long grain (NOT INSTANT) rice in the bag (I suggest that it’s full but not too full so the bag can conform to your feet or hand shape)
Sew up the top. You’re all done!
DO NOT WASH IT!!
Microwave it for only a minute the first time you use it so you don’t smell a burning scent then add a minute or two depending on how hot you want it (the length of time you microwave it for depends on the amount of rice you have in it, so until you know how hot you want it and how long it takes to make it that hot, do it in one minute intervals)
It stays warm for quite a while
Don’t over-do it or you will scald (maybe even burn) yourself
GKT Meeting #3
Inexpensive Organic Clothing
Why is buying organic clothes better? Think of it this way: buying organic clothes is kind of like buying organic produce and food. Organic clothes are made without chemicals like pesticides, herbicides, and defoliants. By buying these goods instead of the regular, average, chemically processed clothes we are supporting the earth to be used the right way- without killing it- and not hurting ourselves. The more people buy organic clothes (like the ones found at Target) the faster we can stop the production of non-organic products. As more and more people catch on, the price will go lower and lower because more companies will offer organic clothes to meet the demand!
Beer Bottle Goblets!
You just cut the bottom of the bottle off. Then fire the edges that you cut (so you don’t hurt yourself). Next, glue the bottom to the top of the bottle, and fire the places where they connect to insure it’s leak proof. They don’t look half bad and it’s a great way to use a beer bottle again if you’re not recycling it (though I gotta say, you should recycle it). You can actually drink out of this, or use it as a decoration. Did you know that glasses like this are actually sold online!? They’re priced at £12.95 each (in the U.K.) and come in different beer brands. Imagine if you made a bunch of these and sold them as a fundraiser! They are extremely cheap to make so even if you sold it for only $3 each you could make a HUGE profit! Personally, if I saw this being sold, I would get one to give to my brother. He would get an artistic recycled kick out of it.
Blackle
Thats why they’ve invented Blackle. Blackle.com is a website that was created by the same people who came up with Google. It is pretty much the exact same system, it just uses less energy because it doesn’t fill your screen with white. Pretty cool right? It's really easy to use too. You just go to Blackle.com to access the website. It's that easy! So if you are looking for a way to save energy but don't really have time, then how about changing the way we use energy and check out Blackle.com.
Soap-Making
While we were making the trips back and forth to the barn, my Mom and Dad were heating water on the stove to bring it to a boil. At the same time I was washing the jugs to make sure that there wasn’t any milk scum inside. After the water had boiled they turned each burner off and mixed the ingredients together in the water. Then we added all the liquids together into a 5 gallon bucket and stirred them gently. Making sure not to make too many bubbles.
After we had finished making one batch we would fill the jugs full and place them on the dining room table to be labeled. Once we had finished filling the 29 jugs, Mina, Olivia and I sat down and started attaching the logos and information to the jugs, while the parents started to clean up the kitchen. This was the hardest part of the whole process because the labels and the contact paper didn’t stick well to the milk bottle. We ended up putting the contact paper all the way around the bottle so the labels would not get wet and they wouldn’t fall off.
In all it took 5 people about 4 hours to create 29 gallons of laundry soap. Today Emily and Laura went out with Mom and sold 10 jugs! Some people asked how it works on clothes, so it was a good thing we’ve been using it. We made extra jugs for each of the GKT members, so they can try it themselves. It cleans well, and the borax and washing soda are both whitening agents. Some people use borax with their regular detergent, instead of bleach. If you have a really dirty load, use a little more (just like you would with regular detergent).
GKT Meeting #2
Volunteering: We are currently getting ready to volunteer at Stonewall Farm. I handed out the volunteer packets to the members. We also talked about trying to volunteer and the Recycling Center. One of the men there offered to get us involved with a Green Up Keene Day. We will have more info about that soon.
Punta Mona: Briefly we went over the trip to Costa Rica that is planned for next February.
Fundraising: We planned when some of the members could make it over to my house to make laundry detergent. Mina, and Olivia helped me make 29 jugs of detergent yesterday. And today Emily and Laura went out and sold ten jugs and got donations. At the meeting we also talked about other potential fundraising ideas.
Earth Day: There were some ideas for doing some kind of event for Earth Day, but we decided against it because we have too many things to do right now. With getting the club started and yourselves well know. Big events will have to come in time.
Green Magazine: Laura had the idea of making a Green Magazine after the club got more settled. We decided if we pursue this idea, that we will have four issues a year corresponding with the seasons.
Bank Account: After we get our Non-profit Certificate we will be getting a bank account at one of the banks in town, so we can keep our money in perfect order. Laura and Katelyn are going to collaborating together to get an account.
Blog Ideas: I encourage everyone to try to write a blog entry or two. I provided them with ideas and prompts of what they could write about. Soon we will have more content on the site!
