Five Things That Make Me Happy & One Thing That Pisses Me Off

by Katy on May 3, 2013 · 25 comments

Green Machine!

Five Things That Make Me Happy:

1) Reading and hearing about the soccer game between Mt Tabor Soccer Club’s Green Machine and Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers. This was a Make-a-Wish Foundation event between an eight-year-old boy’s team and Portland’s popular soccer team. It was attended by more than 3000 fans and treated like a real game. Sadly, I had to work, but my husband Dale was front and center screaming, chanting and rooting for The Green Machine. Although he was not directly involved with the planning of the game, he is on the board of Mt Tabor Soccer Club, and a lot of the connections he’s forged through the years were. Portland soccer fans and The Timbers really came through on this one.

2) Being told a story by one of my co-workers about a conversation between her three-year-old daughter and another little kid at the park :

Girl: “Do you have any brothers and sisters?

Boy: “I got an older brother and we’re getting a baby from China.”

Girl: “Well yeah, all babies come from vagina!”

Gotta love kids who understand the human body and know the correct names!

3) Finding six matching glass food storage containers at Goodwill. I always keep an eye out for nice glass food storage when I thrift, and this has been intensified since I started doing the Zero Waste Challenge. However, the one from here and one from there-ness can lead to a disjointed aesthetic, so I was giddy appropriately pleased to come across six $1.99 matching jars at Goodwill. (To say I am a “cheap date” would be an understatement.)

4)  Pretty much everything about the DIY Network show “Rehab Addict.”  Living in my own never ending fixer-upper rehab project pretty much requires constant inspiration. And I am super-duper enjoying watching old episodes through On Demand. With a focus on fixing instead of replacing, selling instead of trashing and finding new uses for old household supplies, Nicole Curtis is my kind of woman!

5) Looking forward to using up our current stash of Costco cat litter. I learned that Petco sells scoop-your-own cat litter, and that there’s a location not too far from our house. Although I will have to buy the initial plastic container, I’ll be able to fill it from their bulk bin afterwards. The huge and thick plastic bags from Costco have always been a thorn in my side, so I’m happy to have found a Zero Waste solution.

One Thing That’s Pissing Me Off:

1) Nothing. I worked the last two days and and happily relaxing at home today after an embarrassingly long night of sleep. Life is good.  

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Goodwill, Badwill, Questionable-will — Cheap Dressers, Power Ballad Statuettes and a Doggy Dish

by Katy on April 30, 2013 · 43 comments

Although I had a number of tasks on my to-do list yesterday, I was able to nip into a couple of thrift shops on my way to Winco. (Hello, $10-off $50 coupon!)

I’ve been keeping an eye out for a low dresser for awhile, as I want to reconfigure our bedroom for better feng shui to work a bit better. (My husband keeps a TV on a rolling cart, which I constantly bump into at night.) My thinking is that this style of dresser could accommodate a TV and eliminate a hazardous piece of furniture from our lives.

I liked this groovy mid-century dresser, but it was actually a pretty low quality specimen. Yes, it had dovetail drawers, but the top was actually laminate covered particle board, and the back piece was some kind of chipboard. I would have considered the purchase at $40 or less, but the $70 price tag was beyond my comfort zone.

Dresser

And no visit to a thrift shop is complete without the requisite vase-covered-wth-florist’s-marbles.

These projects are ugly, they have always been ugly and they will always be ugly. So enough already!

C’mon people . . .

Marble vase

This statuette caught my eye, as her hands over ears positioning make her look like she’s about to start recording a power ballad.

Statuette

You know, like this:

Puppies

Oh, sorry. Got that wrong. I meant like this:

Headphones

I try to not give gag gifts, but I know that others lean heavily in this direction. And if there ever was a product manufactured for no other reason than to be a joke it’s the “Freeloader Fork.” With telescoping handle, “The 2-ft. fork that lets you enjoy your meal, and everyone else’s too!”

Uh . . . pass.

IMG_2481

The one thing that both caught my eye and came home with me with this vintage doggie change bowl. It’s meant to be on a man’s nightstand for his watch, spare change, etc. And although this one has seen better days, I couldn’t resist. And I couldn’t help but start humming this vintage ditty:

“How much is that doggie in the Goodwill?”

$2.99.

Dog Dish

Do you think I should have bought the dresser? I’m pretty much in the camp of only buying the stuff that is exactly what I want. The style is super on-trend right now, but I’m simply a snob about solid wood.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Today I Am . . .

by Katy on April 29, 2013 · 28 comments

TV Mirror!

It’s time for another edition of Today I am . . .

  • Happy to see the rain return to Portland after a week of unpleasant sunshine. ( <– This is how you can tell I’m a true Oregonian.)
  • Thinking about how I read that you should have everything in your home “be like a fork.” As in, you never wonder where the forks go, as they have a specific, logical and permanent spot. (Can’t remember where I read this though.) Makes me think of how many grapefruit spoons my house contains.
  • Proud that with the exception of cat litter, I put out no garbage this week. This is despite sharing every-other-week garbage pickup. I do have garbage that could have gone out, but it was so little that it wasn’t worth having to put a new bag in the can.
  • Laughing at the vintage $5 garage sale mirror that I painted a silver color. I wanted to try covering the wood with copper leaf from the art supply store, but decided that I should use what I have (leftover spray paint) instead of buying new. Why am I laughing? The muted silver color makes it look like a sideways TV.
  • Enjoying my new roll of silver duct tape that I picked up for free from a garage sale yesterday. Who gets rid of duct tape?!
  • Saddened by the daily news coming out of Bangladesh about the factory collapse. This article has very up to date and balanced information.
  • Bummed that I missed my older son’s apparently beautiful goal on Saturday because I was at work. (He usually plays defense so he rarely scores goals.) However, I am happy that I got to witness my younger son’s goal and subsequent celebration dance yesterday.
  • Kind of disappointed in the book Money Secrets of The Amish. I had high expectations, but it read like a lengthy magazine article and never really explored beyond the obvious.
  • Paying 25¢ per day in library fines for the 24-disc audio book of Fall of Giants. I’m trying my darndest to motor through the book, (which I’m enjoying) but there was simply no way I could get it read in the three weeks allowed by my library system. I’m on disc 16, so I’m too far in to stop. (I sure wish it would renew.)
  • Planning another bulk-buying shopping extravaganza at Winco, as I scored another $10-off-$50 coupon from my mother’s rental cottage.
  • Jonesing for a day of thrift shopping. It’s been a few weeks and I’m starting to develop a tic.

Now your turn. What are you doing lately?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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We Need Your Birthday Party Ideas!

by Katy on April 26, 2013 · 33 comments

dress-ups

One of the great things about The Non-Consumer Advocate is how readers are able to find answers to life’s problems both great and small. This is especially true over at The Facebook Group. 

Just this morning, Renee posed this question:

Looking for frugal ideas for my son’s 4th Birthday party:
He has decided he wants a “costume party to celebrate Halloween and my Birthday!” Which is in the end of May. Silly kiddo.

So we’re thinking we’ll drop the Halloween part and make it a dress up party. Collect a bunch of friend’s dress up stuff ahead of time and then have a big selection for the kids when they get here (although he really just wants to wear one costume from his favorite video game, Costume Quest, which inspired this whole thing.)

I’d like to avoid the $100-$200 rental fee for a place, but we’re not sure our house is big enough/set up well for lots of kids playing. Weather is too unpredictable here (Seattle area) to plan for it it be outside. Any ideas of where to have it?

And other than the kids wearing different costumes, what kind of activities can you think of?

Within a few minutes, answers starting popping up. But since we all face the challenges of entertaining, I thought I would share her question on the blog.

Here are my suggestions, (and by the way I love the idea of a costume party!)

  • Rethink that your house is too small. You may have to clear the living room of furniture, but that’s better than the expense and bother of renting out a space.
  • Do party favors of fabric tails for the kids. (Stuff thin tubes of animal print fabric, with a length of unstuffed fabric to tuck into the backs of pants.) Great play value!

Now you, what are your suggestions for Renee? please share your ideas in the comments section below.

And before you get all creative with your  birthday party suggestions, I want you to reflect on the vintage photo of my now 14 and 17-year-old sons. Yes, they are superheroes, but my older son has a squirting dolphin tucked into his belt, because it was the closest thing we had to a toy gun.  And my younger son created some kind of wrist cuffs from paper and tape. And yes, my house was messy.

They melt my heart.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Today I Am . . .

by Katy on April 25, 2013 · 23 comments

Enjoying this outtake from last week’s Zero Waste blog post:

Zero Waste Outtake

Waiting to see if the nest on our house that showed up overnight will start to see some action:

Birds's Nest

Cringing at some of the bulk options at Winco. Yes, they have organic cane sugar, oats, quinoa and pasta, but they also have powdered nacho cheese! Click on the photo to ch-ch-check out the ingredients!

Powdered Nacho Cheese

Loving all that Goodwill has to offer:

Ceramic Hell

Asking for you to read my Huffington Post article about the recent Bangladeshi garment factory collapse and “Like” and “Share” it on your Facebook wall.

Bangladeshi HuffPo Article

Now you. What are you doing today?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Bangladeshi Garment Factory Collapses — The Price of Your Cute Clothing

by Katy on April 24, 2013 · 36 comments

Bangladeshi Factory Collapse

I am heartbroken to write another blog post about unsafe garment worker conditions in the country of Bangladesh. Because yes, there is news today of a garment factory collapse that has killed “at least 87” workers. This building had known structural cracks and “workers told Bangladeshi news outlets that supervisors had ordered them to attend work on Wednesday, even though cracks were discovered in the building on Tuesday.”

In a country rapidly becoming known for unsafe working conditions and lax government oversight, these news stories are becoming more and more frequent. Despite efforts to protect worker rights, there seems to be no improvement. (Just last year Bangladeshi workers rights activist, Aminul Islam was found violently murdered.)

From this morning’s NY Times:

“Bangladesh’s garment industry has grown rapidly during the last decade, particularly as rising wages in China have pushed many global clothing brands to look for lower costs elsewhere. Bangladesh has the lowest labor costs in the world, with minimum wage in the garment industry set at roughly $37 a month. Retailers and brands including Walmart, H&M, Sears, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger and many others have outsourced the production of billions of dollars of clothes there.”

The NY Times reports that “brands manufactured at this specific factory include Benetton, The Children’s Place and Dress Barn,” and The Huffington Post added that “clothes with Disney, Wal-Mart and other western labels were found at that factory.”

This is the price of our low cost clothing. But this is also the cost of higher end clothing as well, as Benetton and The Children’s Place are hardly selling for a buck or two.

If you have ever needed a reason to stop buying new foreign-made clothing, this is your moment.

Buy used, buy made in America, but please, I beg of you, make a choice to stop being part of the cycle that keeps these death trap factories in business! Show the people of Bangladesh that you care about their citizens, and that you want no part of a manufacturing culture that cuts corners at the expense of human lives.

Click HERE to read my blog post about the 2012 Bangladeshi Tazreen factory fire that killed 112 workers.

Click HERE to read my blog post about the 2010 Bangladeshi factory fire that killed at least 25 workers.

Please share this article on your Facebook page, on Twitter and in your conversations. Until we as consumers take responsibility for our role in unsafe foreign worker conditions, there can be no change.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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What *Don’t* You Do?

by Katy on April 23, 2013 · 62 comments

My husband and I just finished meeting with an investment planner, and in preparation, we needed to list all of our monthly expenses. To say it was an eye opener would be an understatement. I wouldn’t go so far to say that my family has undergone a lifestyle creep, but our expenses have definitely risen.

A loop of “I can’t believe how much we’re spending” started playing over and over in my head.

However, I forced myself to start thinking about the money we don’t spend, and I came up with this list.

We don’t spend money on:

  • Have to take an airplane vacations.
  • Paying others to do what we deem unpleasant or too busy to do ourselves.
  • Disposable products.
  • Childcare. (The kids would no longer need it, but we always worked opposite shifts in order to meet this goal.)
  • Drinks out with the girls/boys.
  • Expensive hobbies such as golf, fishing, scrapbooking.
  • Impulse purchases such as cute sunglasses or kicky new sandals.
  • Recreational vehicles.
  • Regular restaurant dinners.
  • Books or DVD’s.
  • Regular alcohol usage.
  • Vanity products such as designer purses or high end vehicles.

This helped to calm me down, and to remind myself that in fact, we’re doing just fine. And I could get back on track with my day of air drying the laundry, picking up on-sale butter and returning library books before they accrued a fine.

You know, my glamorous life.

So . . . What don’t you do? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Boo-Hiss Awards — Earth Day Greenwashing

by Katy on April 22, 2013 · 25 comments

Today, being April 22nd, is Earth Day, which means we dedicate a day to abstaining from environmentally harmful activities and instead do something helpful for our lovely planet. Right?

Wrong!

It’s a day for very special Earth Day products and retail promotions!

Like these:

Safeway wants you to celebrate Earth Day and that “These Unilever brands aim to reduce impact on the environment.” Make note of the special plastic tub of “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter!” (You’d think they’d at least bother to add some green color to the margarine graphics, you know because it’s green.)

Earth Day products

Safeway, you both missed the point of Earth Day and underestimated the intelligence of your customers.

Boo-Hiss!

Or Target, who celebrated Earth Day by handing out 1.5 million low quality reusable tote bags, which included coupons for Dasani bottled water.

Target, you make the planet cry.

Boo-Hiss!

But let’s not let Target be the only winner of we gave away free tote bags, therefor all our harmful manufacturing practices are erased award. This honor is shared by both Disney and Joanne Fabrics.

Boo-Hiss, Boo-Hiss!

But there’s no Boo-Hiss for the National Park Service, who is giving every American an entire week of free admission to our national parks from April 20-28th! Click HERE for more information.

Happy Earth Day!

Click HERE to read past Non-Consumer Advocate Boo-Hiss Awards.

And to put a positive spin on Earth Day, please share your favorite sustainable tip in the comments section below!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Day Seven — The End of Zero Waste Week

by Katy on April 21, 2013 · 10 comments

Zero Waste Home

Today is Day Seven of Zero Waste Week here at The Non-Consumer Advocate and I am wiped. Mind you, I’m not tired of making Zero Waste choices, I’m just tired of writing about it!

Today I brewed a cup of loose leaf tea, drove kids to soccer, sat in my car reading library books until the game started and then drove through Burgerville for breakfast burritos on the way home.

Why would I make a drive-through decision?

Because I had a BOGO Chinook Book coupon, as well as a free breakfast burrito that had been added to my Burgerville card after my last visit. So . . . free!

And the packaging?

It was all paper and could be composted. So it was 100% Zero Waste!

If you’re wanting to delve more deeply into Zero Waste, I highly recommend Zero Waste Home as well as the Zero Waste Home book. (Get it from the library for bonus good karma points!) And for those of you with a smart phone, there’s an interactive Bulk Locator App for sourcing zero waste options in your neighborhood!

So now you have no excuses for not working Zero Waste into your life!

Did you make any Zero Waste choices this week? Please share your stories in the comments section below!

Click HERE for Day One of Zero Waste Week.

Click HERE for Day Two of Zero Waste Week.

Click HERE for Day Three of Zero Waste Week.

Click HERE for Day Four of Zero Waste Week.

Click HERE for Day Five of Zero Waste Week.

Click HERE for Day Six of Zero Waste Week.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Zero Waste Week — Day Six, A Mostly Invented Wheel

by Katy on April 20, 2013 · 44 comments

Zero Waste Feast

Today Day Six of the Zero Waste Week and although I normally take a break from blogging on Saturdays, today is a bonus day!

Why?

Because yesterday was all about stocking the kitchen back up on Zero Waste goodies. Unlike regular grocery shopping which can be accomplished at one or two locations, Zero Waste has proven to require multiple stops. But it’s not actually as bad as it sounds, as most everything is close to the house.

First off was Winco, which is a local no frills and inexpensive grocery chain. Sadly, it’s pretty far from the house, so I don’t end up shopping there much. This is a lost opportunity, as they are cheap, cheap cheap-ity cheap. 

Example?

The yogurt covered pretzels at New Season’s were on sale at $7.49 down from $7.99 per pound. At Winco the exact same product, (with identical code) was $1.88/pound not on sale.

So yeah, much cheaper.

My first step at the store was to bring my empty glass containers to the checkout to get the tare weight. The woman was very confused, but a nearby checker explained that Winco no longer allows you to bring your own glass containers for “health code reasons.” We had a conversation about how New Seasons, Fred Meyer and Safeway all allow this, but there was no budging on the matter. Luckily, I brought a large amount of my own endlessly washed Ziploc bags.

I kind of wondered whether the bags were verboten as well, but I decided to take a page from the military and “don’t ask, don’t tell.” For those of you who think I was being dishonest, I made no secret of filling my bags, and even had an employee helping me at one point, so there was ample opportunity for them to correct me.

From the bulk bins I bought yogurt covered pretzels, dried cranberries, flour, baking cocoa, quinoa, pinto beans, tortellini, ground ginger, cinnamon, Gardetto’s snack mix, chocolate chips, lentils and granola. Oddly, they didn’t have bulk tea, which was on my list.

I also bought a large amount of loose produce, which I either bought sans-bag, (What? Three limes don’t require their own bag?!!) or put in my reusable mesh produce bags.

One thing that I really like about shopping Winco, is that it’s an incredible mixture of citizens. Multiple nationalities and a wide range of income levels are all shopping together. It’s awesome!

Next stop was The Dollar Tree store, where I bought fifteen bars of paper wrapped soap for $5. Although I was okay with buying a single bar of unpackaged $5 shaving soap, I can simply not make the jump from 33¢ soap to $5 soap for showering. And since we always recycle the paper packaging, (and buy enough to last for six months) I am at peace with this purchase.

I then swung around to Hawthorne Boulevard, where I stopped at La Palapa for bulk chips and salsa, Grand Central Bakery for bread, Safeway for kale, (hello . . . on sale for 99¢ per bunch!) and finally New Season’s for glass bottled milk and the free range and hormone-free eggs that we always buy.

Whew . . .

This was an unusual day, as six grocery stops is completely insane. However, I feel like I’ve finally figured out the how and where to buy the Zero Waste equivalent of our groceries without taking out a second mortgage on our home.

Let’s just say we’re past inventing the wheel, and are now in the Beta testing phase.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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