Itty Bitty Impact

Itty Bits: To Carpool is Cool

Posted on16. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

Sometimes green lifestyle changes are born from necessity, and I like it when that happens. I had a problem: my car broke down…and the solution hit me over the head like “duh!” This week’s Itty Bits Challenge is to get yourself to work at least one day a week by means of either bycicle, bus, or carpool.

Continue Reading

Making Maple Syrup IV: Canning

Posted on09. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

Maple Moon Sugarbush is starting to wrap up its 2010 sugaring season this week.  My family and I will be pulling the taps out of the trees and washing up all the equipment soon.  We made about 25 gallons this year, which means we have plenty for our Sunday pancakes and to replenish our friends and [...]

Continue Reading

Making Maple Syrup III: Boiling

Posted on07. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

Boiling is my favorite part of the syrup making process. It is also the most tedious of all the steps. My dad is the boiling master, but Mike has been slowly aquiring the skills from him over the past couple seasons {we plan to carry on the tradition someday with our own kids.}

Continue Reading

Making Maple Syrup II: Collecting

Posted on06. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

When all the trees are tapped, we wait for the buckets to fill with sap. Some years, when the weather is right, we’ll need to collect twice a day, because the sap is flowing so fast. The ideal weather for a good sap run only happens during a small window of time every spring {usually lasting a week}. It needs to freeze at night, and then warm up to about 50 degrees during the day. This is a tricky weather combination, but the best syrup is made during this window- a beautiful amber color and buttery taste.

Continue Reading

Making Maple Syrup: Tapping

Posted on04. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

Sweet, buttery, sticky, wonderful maple syrup has been made in my family for 23 years now. Back in the day, we used to tap 1,100 trees on our land, pouring what we collected into a big tank on a sleigh, pulled by a draft horse. It was a lot of work, but we were never short on help {all we had to tell people was that they could take home some syrup, and they’d show up to help all season long.} Even though we have scaled the operation back in recent years {we no longer have our horses, so we do all the collection on foot now}, syruping is still a beloved family “chore” that brings us together every spring.

Continue Reading

Itty Bits: Eat Better Meat

Posted on02. Apr, 2010 by Tonia.

This week the challenge is to eat better meat. And if you can’t find good meat {no hormones, grass fed/vegetarian fed, family farm, local, organic, free-range} then eat NO meat. This is no simple task, especially for Wisconsin-born-and-bred-brat-loving kids like us. The Duluth Farmer’s Market is not open for the season yet, and although our grocery store does a fantastic job offering locally grown produce and all kinds of organic goodies, they are slacking in the meat department– they don’t stock anything but Gold n’ Plump {don’t be fooled by the packaging that claims their chickens come from family farms!} So, I wrote the grocery store a letter with my complaint. If you’re in the same boat, please write to your local grocery store. Stores should respond to the needs of their customers, so if enough of us do this, we might just make an impact!

Continue Reading

The No Impact Project: They Did It, And So Can We!

Posted on16. Mar, 2010 by Tonia.

Now this is what I’m talkin’ about!!  Have you heard of the No Impact Project?  It’s genius. I couldn’t wait to share it with ya’ll as soon as I found out about it.
In a nut shell, one family decided to make small changes every day in their lives to reduce their impact on the environment…and [...]

Continue Reading

Interviewed by Green Baby Green Mama

Posted on05. Mar, 2010 by Tonia.

I had the pleasure yesterday of chatting with Heather, the main mama behind Green Baby Green Mama, about homeschooling. I was homeschooled grades K-8 by my amazing parents, and it was a great experience for me. I love talking about the good old homeschool days, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! I’m honored that Heather interviewed me for her blog.

Continue Reading

Itty Bits: Shorter Showers

Posted on26. Feb, 2010 by Tonia.

Last week our challenge was to time our showers and keep them under five minutes. How did you do? It was tough for me, but I’m proud to say I was able to do it. I’d like to shorten my time even more. I think if I do it gradually, I won’t even notice the difference.

Our next challenge is perhaps something many of you are already doing: Use reusable shopping bags. Mike and I have about 10 different reusable bags for groceries…and yet, emberassingly, we often forget them and are forced to choose between paper or plastic. This is a bad habit that I am dying to change…hence, a perfect Itty Bits Challenge!

Continue Reading

Natural Beauty II: DIY Facial

Posted on24. Feb, 2010 by Tonia.

I always get the itch to do a little self-pampering in the early spring. After a long winter of dry-skin, I can’t wait to get my healthy summer-glow back. But most facial products are chocked-full of nasty ingredients (see Natural Beauty: Avoiding Toxic Make-Up). So today I thought I would share with you some of my alternatives to department store products.

Continue Reading