Clean the produce out of your fridge!

Spring cleaning time! Time to clear the fridge and counter top of all that produce you've been hoarding that's just on the verge of going bad but still fresh enough to eat. Have a ton? Here are some ideas on preserving or using that massive amount of plant based goodness before it goes to waste!

Thrifty Finds - Thrift Shopping 101

HOW TO THRIFT!



Here's a cute dress I got for a few bucks at my local thrift shop <3

So, I've been a savvy thrift shopper my ENTIRE life. After all, how else would I currently be making my life as a full time artist while having cute clothes possible ;) Since I was a child, I would see cool new toys on TV and if I wanted them I'd always tell my mom, hey mommy, I really want this cool new "X" item that all the kids at school have, can we keep an eye out for it when we go garage sailing? And low and behold, we would always find it on our hunts every weekend for a fraction of the price that all my friends' parents were spending.

Earth Day & March for Science

Happy (belated) Earth Day, since I didn't have time to blog about such a fun filled day yesterday! Yesterday was quite an amazing day! For earth day, we did a lot to celebrate helping our planet and had a lot of fun doing so. 

VegFest Gainesville 2017

In my opinion, absolutely the best festival yet to hit Gainesville Florida..... was VegFest!!

Swap out the chemicals in your life for a new natural lifestyle

I've been gradually transforming my lifestyle into a more natural one. Taking one step at a time to either buy a new natural product or make my own, I'm starting to replace my old products filled with harmful chemicals with new, safer (and even more effective) alternatives! It sure feels great to live a cruelty-free, cheaper, safer, and more natural lifestyle where I can feel more wholesome and one with our planet and mother nature. I personally vouch for all these products and concoctions if I personally use most of them daily!

Gardening and beautifying your yard space on a budget

During the summer months it's nice to have a beautiful yard or yard area to sit in and enjoy the outdoors. We live in an apartment, but just switched units to one that has a nice sized yard area consisting of the court yard from the surrounding apartments. We have so many plants and love being outside so much.. we took the option to upgrade and went through the trouble of moving just to have a bigger and better yard space to utilize. It's nice to have a beautiful place to come home to, and the decor for the warming weather is a way to boost one's mood and earn a lot of compliments from neighbors too. Decorating and gardening is contagious, and you may inspire other's to brighten up the neighborhood.

Happy Earth Day!

Image retrieved from http://en.protothema.gr/earth-day-april-22-statement-window-of-opportunity-is-closing-fast/

DIY T-Shirt Plant Hanger

So we have a huge garden growing outside.. and with apartment living it's hard to find space for all of our potted plants! We have been hanging some that came in a hanging basket, but I wanted to find a way to create a DIY hanger for some of the other potted plants we have. Better than just finding a tutorial for making one out of store bought macrame or lanyard, I found the perfect step by step instructions to make one out of an old T-shirt! Because I love recycling/upcycling old unused items, this is an eco-friendly way to get ready for the spring and summer weather by doing some spring cleaning in your closet AND sporting your plants inside or out in a truly fashionable way. Plus I promise that this project is much easier than it looks! If you don't have plants yet, go and get yourself a nice plant to hang in a plant hanger because not only are plants beautiful, but they help make the air cleaner for you to breathe and help lift your mood and spirit. Just don't forget to water them and hang in a spot that gets enough sunlight.

Garbage smoothies

So I decided I wanted to write a post in general on how you can cut back on some of your "organic garbage" by finding other uses for it. There are actually ways that I plan ahead what the final purpose of my produce will be by gauging the lifespan of it, how much I have, and how fast I will use it. By doing this, I prevent a lot of garbage from forming in the first place.

Going Green Tip #3 (Stay Green this Holiday Season-and all year round!)

Going Green Lifestyle Tip #3:

As the holidays approach us, it's hard not to catch a bit of the contagious holiday magic that's in the air. The time for giving, getting together with family, and eating a lot of food are typical for most, and  many don't realize what a negative impact this time of the year can have on our planet. Between all of the carbon emmissions from excessive traveling, the abundance of wrapping paper, discarded decorations and waste getting thrown into the trash and ultimately winding up in landfills or the oceans,  I mean, it doesn't sound too magical anymore, does it? Let's try to find some ways to enjoy the holidays but be environmentally conscious and thoughtful to our mother earth at this time of the year too. What follows in this blog is a ton of awesome environmentally friendly lifestyle tips for the holidays, and most of these tips can be utilized year round!

Going Green Tip #2 (Planning a trip?? Plan an eco-friendly one!)

Going Green Lifestyle Tip #2:

Here are a few tips for ECO travel planning if you want to have minimal impact on the planet. 

Going Green Intro & Tip #1 (electronic checks)

Today, I attended the Gainesville Book Sale, where Friends of the Library houses hundreds of thousands of donated books under the roof of a huge warehouse for very cheap prices. It's a huge event in Gainesville twice a year, where people wait outside hours before the first opening day just to be the first to get dibs on the best books. I was able to move myself through the madness to get a taste of the experience, and grab a tote full of books that were of interest to me.

Balloons blow... Don't let them go!

Anyone who cares about the environment is probably aware of how harmful balloons can be for the ecosystem and the animals that inhabit it. From sea turtles choking to death on them after mistaking them for a tasty jellyfish, or a bird getting entangled in one after thinking it would be a good addition to their nest, animals are dying every day because of the ignorance of people that release these killers into the air. As a young child, my biggest fear was ever letting go of a balloon after my mom told me they may fly high into the atmosphere when you let it go, but what goes up must always come down and that my released balloon would kill a bird. I made sure to triple tie the balloon onto my wrist, and if I ever lost it I cried not for my own loss, but because I was afraid that what I did would kill an animal. Not to make kids upset for no reason... but they should be educated on the negative affects of pollution, and that releasing a balloon falls into this category.

Dead bird found tangled in balloon ribbon
(Photo taken from Balloons Blow)

Animal heads stuck in yogurt cups!

My beloved Yoplait lite Yogurt cups..... found guilty of murder.

These yogurts.... which are in fact extremely delicious, and only 90 calories a cup for the light ones, come in a variety of flavors, including desserts to curb a craving. However, I can no longer endorse this product and I hope if you're a Yoplait supporter you will follow in my footsteps.