Today is Blog Action Day, so I'm posting about environmental things for a change today. One of the ways Debbie and I make a difference is to learn how to make things ourselves. Often we can recycle something into another use with some work, but for food products we have found it gives us a new insight into tastes and often provides a new experience too. It also gives us full choice of ingredients and process, choosing local, farmer's market bought, organic, free-range, low-salt, etc.
Debbie and I love to make our own stuff, and regularly do so.
* We love to cook from scratch on weekends when we have time
* Brett made a batch of tomato chutney and canned it
* Debbie is making soap at home (today!)
* Brett makes home-made (and tasty) beer, hard-cider, and root-beer
* Debbie loves to make pasta with her new stand mixer
* We plant a garden and grow hops at home and enjoy the spoils
* We've made grape-juice and apple cider in NY
* We make ice-cream at home in the summer with our cool kick-ball
* We are going to try making cheese at home next..
It's fun to make things at home, and more environmental!
Of course we've also "contributed" in lots of other environmental ways with household work and daily activities:
* Only have one car, we bike and walk when we can
* Brett works from home 1 day a week to avoid miles in my commute
* Have a programmable thermostat, keep it turned down
* Insulated the walls
* Changed most of the bulbs in the house to CFLs, turn off lights when not in use
* Chosen energy/water saving appliances
* In the remodel, used "green" or environmentally responsible materials when possible including Fuze counters and FSC lumber for our cabinets.
