here she is again

...catching caterpillars and putting them in jars. This one escaped before we saw it transform. We found a cocoon on a basil leaf a while back. We put that one in a jar and a few days later we had a little brown moth! That time we put a lid on the jar and poked holes through it. For this fuzzy brown and black caterpillar, we didnt put a lid on for some reason. We werent too sure about what to do with one that wasnt already in a chrysalis state.

mocha mom

I realized that I have mentioned mochas a number of times throughout this blogs history... but I never mentioned that I AM a mom as well. Here is my Ama. She was delighted to be offered her very own jar the other day. It is a cute little ball jar with flowers and the word 'aloha' on the side of it. She drank water out of it that day, but now it is storing her fairy dust.

what's in your jar?

Have I mentioned (100 times) how much I love living in oregon? I love living in this place where it is fully acceptable to be drinking out of jars. It's almost a requirement even. Imagine my excitement when I see a friend walk in drinking out of a garlic jar. Yes, I had to run and get my camera! My other friend was using a kombucha bottle, and I had a wine bottle... but we were all drinking the same thing. hmmmm.

my first wordle

gift in a jar

An amazing coincidence happened the other night... I left a gift of homemade chocolate lavendar cookies in a jar, on the doorstep of a friend. A little while later I find this gift on my doorstep. It is a jar turned into a vase to hold cilantro. Each detail of this gift is so meaningful to me. It portrays peace, love, hugs, bikes, flowers, squash, cats, jars, and my nickname!
TOO CUTE!

cake in a jar

A few weeks ago I took a trip up to Mt Rainier to visit some people. It was J's birthday and there was supposed to be a big bash. It turned out to be a small crowd for dinner - that I missed out on- no bonfire, no fire lit croquet games or glow in the dark tennis. I did however get to enjoy some wonderful cake and sing an out of key version of the happy bday song, with some new friends. We had fun talking and looking at the fake National Geographic magazine. The next day I even got to take some cake to go in my jar, for my drive up to seattle.

all I need is my bike and some hot lips

I finally got to try the mushroom, asparagus, goat cheese pizza from Hot Lips Pizza the other night. It is the sunday slice special. I picked up my friend Gracie and we made it to the restaurant just in time to get the last 3 slices and a jar full of soda. What a wonderful snack for a late night carpool back to Lost Valley.






















The great thing about Hot Lips, is that they strive for local and sustainable business practices. The soda these two lovely employees are serving me from the tap, is blackrasperry. From what I remember, all ingredients of the pizzas sodas and salads is local...except for the olive oil. They take 'green' practices one step further by providing delivery not by car, but by bike or electric vehicle. Some of their restaurants have fresh herbs and other edibles growing in the small landscaped areas.




I should mention that hot lips is located in Portland. They have 4? maybe 5 locations around the town. They support the Portland Century bike ride that is coming up in a few weeks. I love this place!

4th of july

In an effort to be inconspicuous, I put my beer in a jar. Alcohol is frowned upon in public areas at Lost valley. It turns out, beer in a jar is pretty obvious. Oh well, we took our party down the street to Ken Babbs house anyway. I took off my 'hugs not drugs shirt', put my jar in my backpack, and hopped on my bike. I HAD to check this party out! A few of the merry pranksters were there that night, along with the LV crew in the picture, and some other interesting characters. After people watching for a bit, I rode down to Dexter lake with a friend, to watch fireworks. What an interesting night!

Fire hazard!

Dont leave that jar in the meadow!

Since being here at Lost Valley, my jar has held less mochas (see, Im not addicted). It has held some water and a few varieties of tea. I have to be careful though. If you leave a jar out in the meadow, in the sun... it is a fire hazard. I think LV found out the hard way, but I cant remember the whole story.

I totally set this photo up. I think its the first photo shoot of its kind... for me ...on this blog. I started thinking it would be funny to take photos of all the adventures the jar takes-kind of like the traveling gnome.

anyway...about lost valley... I am here, it is good, it is a beautiful day. I just took these photos a few minutes ago. AND

I am not the only one who drinks out of a jar!!!

In a jar please...

Margaritas, served in a jar!
I just had to splurge and pay 7.50 to get a margarita in a jar at Vita Cafe in Portland. We were out there on Alberta, enjoying the last thursday art walk and decided to eat dinner at our favorite breakfast place. Kids eat for 1$ every night from 5-7. Everything is vegan. I didnt really realize that when I ordered Ama the macaroni...but she didnt notice.




Vegan restaurants, donut parades, nude bike riding...
bikes
bikes
and more bikes.....
I love Portland!

Oh and everyone drinks out of jars!
not just me

mulberry season in PHX

In April, my mulberry tree was full of berries. Until this year, I never even ate a berry off of the tree in my front yard. Come to think of it, that was THE only tree in our whole yard when we bought our house four years ago. The berries came and went quickly. I realized that this is why I never tried one. I have a white variety, so by the time they look almost ready to eat, they are already falling off the tree. This year though I harvested a good amount- in my jars of course. I ate some raw and some dehydrated. Dehydrated mulberries probably will not be the next 'big thing' in trail mix.

the jars hit the road

The traveling activist mom has hit the road... but not without a few jars. On this trip my jars have held..... chai tea, spring water fresh from the mountain source, mochas (of course), seeds, flowers, leftovers, and cloth toilet paper.

I am a little behind with some posts I want to do about my time in Phoenix. I hope to catch up this week, before all the exciting Oregon jar capers begin.

Here is one from the road....

looney bean 2008

almost free ice cream

It was 31 cent scopp night last week at Baskin robbins. I saw online that there was a 10 scoop limit...I thought "10 scoops !!!! I better bring some jars!"

The big canning jars held about 7 scoops. These 2 employees were very helpful, and didnt mind the different request...unlike some other workers :(

I was excited to answer some questions about my jar use. It was a fun evening out at the ice cream place and the jar crew ( M, A, J and L) taught a few people about the importance of reducing trash!

a trip to flagstaff

Recently I took a trip with some friends up to Flagstaff. We had a nice time walking around downtown, eating tasty foods, and there was snow on the mountain! I really wanted to ski, but at 50$ each, we just decided to hang out in the path of the skiers. They have signs around saying "no sledding allowed". A number of people ignore that request and even choose to try out the sled factor of unusual items such as pool toys, car sunshades and jars. The conclusion: jars are not the best sleds.

We were excited to get some hot chocolate in our jars at the lodge. It turned out to be the kind from those dispensers like at 7-11 (which is usually, if not always, hydrogenated-yuck). J still wanted some, so he filled up the jar to the 16 ounce mark. When he went to pay the lady said "um, you cant do that". He said "I already did, here's 1.50$".

42 steps the 'no impact' man has taken...

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

LV GRN: 42 ways to not make trash
In the last, for a while, of the LV GRN posts about how to bring No Impact measures to your own life, I've decided to list 42 ways we adopted to avoid making trash. If you've been reading for a while, you'll have seen these before. But I thought the newer readers might like to take a look. The list is in no particular order:

No soda in cans (which means we’re probably less likely to get cancer from aspartame).

No water in plastic bottles (which means we get to keep our endocrines undisrupted).

No coffee in disposable cups (which means we don’t suffer from the morning sluggishness that comes from overnight caffeine withdrawal).

No throwaway plastic razors and blade cartridges (I’m staging the straightedge razor comeback).

Using non-disposable feminine-hygiene products that aren’t bad for women and are good for the planet.

No Indian food in throwaway takeout tubs.
No Italian food in plastic throwaway tubs.
No Chinese food in plastic throwaway tubs.

Taking our own reusable containers to takeout joints (except that now we’re eating local so this tip is out for us).
Admitting that we sometimes miss Indian, Italian and Chinese takeout.

Hopping on the scale and celebrating the loss of my 20-pound spare tire since I stopped eating bucketsful of Indian, Italian and Chinese takeout.

Buying milk in returnable, reusable glass bottles.

Shopping for honey and pickled veggies and other goods in jars only from merchants who will take back the jars and reuse them.

Returning egg and berry cartons to the vendors at the farmers’ market for reuse.

Using neither paper nor plastic bags and bringing our own reusable bags when grocery shopping.
Canceling our magazine and newspaper subscriptions and reading online.
Putting an end to the junk mail tree killing.

Carrying my ultra-cool reusable cup and water bottle (which is a glass jar I diverted from the landfill and got for free).

Carrying reusable cloths for everything from blowing my nose to drying my hands to wrapping up a purchased bagel.

Wiping my hands on my pants instead of using a paper towel when I forget my cloth.
Politely asking restaurant servers to take away paper and plastic napkins, placemats, straws, cups and single-serving containers.

Explaining to servers with a big smile that I am on a make-no-garbage kick.
Leaving servers a big tip for dealing with my obsessive-compulsive, make-no-garbage nonsense, since they can’t take the big smile to the bank.

Pretending McDonalds and Burger King and all their paper and plastic wrappers just don’t exist.

Buying no candy bars, gum, lollypops or ice cream (not even Ben and Jerry’s peanut butter cup) that is individually packaged.

Making my own household cleaners to avoid all the throwaway plastic bottles.

Using baking soda from a recyclable container to brush my teeth.
Using baking soda for a deodorant to avoid the plastic containers that deodorant typically comes in (cheap and works well).
Using baking soda for shampoo to avoid plastic shampoo bottles.

Using the plastic bags that other people’s newspapers are delivered in to pick up Frankie the dog’s poop.

Keeping a worm bin to compost our food scraps into nourishment that can be returned to the earth instead of toxins that seep from the landfills.

Switching to real—meaning cloth—diapers which Isabella, before she was potty-trained, liked much better.

Not buying anything disposable.
Not buying anything in packaging (and count the money we save because that means pretty much buy nothing unless it’s second hand).

Shopping for food only from the bulk bins and from the local farmer’s market where food is unpackaged and fresh.

Forgetting about prepackaged, processed food of any description.
Being happy that the result is that we get to eat food instead of chemicals.

Giving our second-hand clothes away to Housing Works or other charities.

Offering products we no longer need on Freecycle instead of throwing them away.
Collecting used paper from other people's trash and using the other side.

Using old clothes for rags around the apartment instead of paper towels.

Talking with humor about what we’re doing because making a little less trash is a concrete first step everyone can take that leads to more and more environmental consciousness.
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tsoynamis in jars

We have a vegan restaurant here called "green". The 'a' is in bold because it is the only vegan restaurant in phoenix. Well....Vegetarian house might be one too...but this is a huge city! There should be more! My point is, there is no other place like 'green' in the valley. It used to be called 'veggie fun' and it had an eclectic ambiance. The decor included a mix of elvis paraphenelia, sports equipment and little fake veggies hanging from the walls and ceiling. Some new owners came in, changed the name, and improved the decor just a bit. Now they boast nontoxic paints, stains, countertops and even insulation... most of which was probably purchased at our one store for these items, "aka green". The walls contain local art and for those who choose to read it, a meaningful story...painted right on the wall!

The dessert specialty here is a soy version of the DQ Blizzard called a tsoynami. I dont advocate eating soy unless it is fermented, but this sure is a special treat! MMMmmmmm , the ginger O snap with toffee flavor is so good! The best part is........ we enjoyed them in our jars!

*****even our best "green" eatery here has a way to go compared to so many places in the NW. They could use more nondisposables, offer recycling and composting, etc.

Triple J

Jamba Juice Jars

I was happy to hear that jamba juice was giving out free smoothies this morning. We grabbed our jars and headed out, wondering if they would question our use of jars. Ama chose the PBJ style smoothie and I chose the mango peach. I am glad to report that they took our orders and took our jars, no questions asked!

Oh, a picture would be so cute to go along with this, but I didnt bring the camera.

I'm not always the best...

I almost always have my jar available for drinks that I buy. I have saved a bunch of cups in the last year. I really need to get better at using them for take out food, or leftovers from restaraunts. I dont need to write much more...cause earlier today I read basically the same post over at 'enviromom'. So, I can just send you over there..........I have a link right here ---->
in my link section :)

Do you think taco bell would use a cloth bag and nondisposable container if I brought 1 thru the drive thru ? :)
Put my burrito in the jar please!

It's not just about Jars

I havent had a mocha in a week. I was hit by horrendous allergies , so I layed off the dairy for a bit. I've been using my jars for water, juice and sparkling water this week. I wanted to write about how thats just one thing that we can do to make a difference. Sometimes it seems like such a small thing. Just a small, tiny , holding action....with the hopes to raise awareness. I do a bunch of these little things. I need to remember also, to not just do my own thing and hope that people notice and think about 'why'... I need to share my information. Maybe ask people questions when they look at me weird cause I'm carrying a jar of brown stuff around. I could say...'its coffee, why do you think I use a jar?' or ' I've saved over 300 cups this year by bringing my own jars'....something.
Some other things I do to make a difference
edible landscaping (gardening)
ride my bike
reusable bags
personal growth
despair work
conscious shopping (only buy what I NEED)
yoga
cook my own food as much as possible

DId I forget anything?
to my 3 readers....:)
what are you doing?

mmmmmm

My mouth is watering for a toasted marshmellow mocha from unlimited coffee. I havent had a mocha in a few days. I'm not addicted, they just taste so good :)
Unlimited coffee is very jar friendly. I recently found out that there are some rules about putting drinks in 'outside containers'. Some places have refused my jar, some have offered to clean it out first ( those days when I am getting a refill :) , some make the drink in their paper/plastic cup and then pour it in to my jar --totally missing the point.
Anyway, my jar is labeled* and ready to go get filled!


* I like to write on my jar with a permanent marker, it eventually washes off. Today it is advertising my blog......"one jar at a time"

strange request of the day

I was very dissapointed to be denied the request to fill my jar with lemonade instead of filling a plastic cup. I explained to the man that the whole reason to use my jar is to not throw another plastic cup away. He was pretty flustered and said he's not used to getting strange requests like that.
In my eyes, its very strange to use disposable cups-HEY thats what I should say next time.

On the bright side, I am excited to think that maybe a few people learned something from the debacle. Including my 4 year old who is usually on board with my mission of reducing!

I'd like to add that I was out at a farm supporting the permibus folks today. It was an interesting clash of ...lifestyles.
www.permibus.org

Save your Jars!

Spaghetti sauce, pesto, olives, apple sauce, baby food, curry masala... they all come in jars. Most of us probably recycle them, but we can do one step better. Wash them, save them and reuse them! You can use them for leftovers, for storing beans and grains, for art projects, for drinking out of. You might start to notice that you dont need to buy any gladware. You might realize that you have purchased less ziploc bags. If your child is drinking milk and drops the glass and it shatters all over the kitchen...you dont need to buy more glasses. Use your jars! Don't forget to save the lids too, then they make nice portable containers.
Reduce and Reuse...
can be much more important than recycling!