Any time America experiences an economic downturn, people use the Great Depression as a yardstick: What shade of gray is our today compared to Black Tuesday? Poking around the internet I was surprised to see how many articles popped up proclaiming the next Great Depression…some of them dated ten years ago, all offering their own proof for why things are even worse than we thought, and just going to go downhill from there.

Half the joy of vacation is that anything goes. Alarm clocks are shut off, routines are put on hold, junk food is consumed with reckless abandon, and lazing around is totally acceptable, if not encouraged. The best part of all? It’s totally guilt-free! Isn’t that what vacation’s for? But even the most relaxing and indulgent vacations still require a level of mindfulness.  Often, as we strategize our travel plans to ensure they’re green as can be, it’s easy to overlook some of the smaller but equally impactful details—like where we get our drinking water.

Even for the most devoted reusable bottle carriers, travel can be a challenge.

Walk in to your local chain organic market and you may be fooled by the fluorescent lights and sleek modern atmosphere. Though stores like Whole Foods do their best to show the connections between the food on their shelves and where it came from, the environmentally-conscious supermarket’s very existence may seem like a modern phenomenon, a hybrid of convenience and conscience that has cropped up in recent years.

Brightly colored string, an empty cereal box, a thick stack of scrap paper, and a little creativity - and you have your own personalized notebook for school, work, or home.

 

As August rolls around, many parents head out to various school and office supply stores for notebooks, pencils, pens, binders and the like for their kids or themselves.  But why buy it when you can make it yourself, save a little money, and entertain yourself or the whole family!

 

Every little piece of scrap paper, construction paper, and one sided print-outs that I no longer need end up getting stashed in my arts and crafts cabinet alongside various markers, crayons, fancy colorful writing implements, and other miscellaneous odds and ends (glitter, sequins, string, key rings, pipe cleaners, stickers…

During my days living in the dusty southwest, cruising the alleyways for treasure was a favorite pastime and, believe it or not, a fairly common one in my circle.

So, when getting around on my red Schwinn Collegiate, I took the less scenic route to see if there was something I just couldn’t live without. Needless to say, I was doin’ a lot of livin’ out there in Tucson, Arizona.

To my delight, peering through a yard to a covered porch, I spotted a gorgeous, double oven O’Keefe and Merit 1950’s cast iron stove, weighing in at about 300 pounds.