UsedEverywhere.com

My Top 10 List: Why Our Free Page is So Awesome!

Now you may have guessed from my previous posts that I am someone who LOVES to save money and loves to get things for free! I even wrote a blog post a while back letting you know that “Free” is my favorite word…the tattoo is still pending. I don’t think this is too outrageous as most people enjoy the feeling of getting something for free, right? And the flip side to this is giving stuff away for free can also be an uplifting experience as you know you’ve made someone else happy. It’s a win-win!

This brings me to my Top 10 List: Why the Used Free Page is So Awesome!  And yes, I admit, I am stealing this idea from the great Mr. Letterman so there will be no lawsuit.

#10 – You can post your FREE items for FREE on the UsedEverywhere.com sites: Because free and free just go together like peanut butter and jelly! Snap a pic of that great item you no longer need, tell the world all about it and post it. So easy!

#9 – You can post as many free items as you like: The skies are the limit as to how many unwanted items you can give away to be cherished by another. Remember the old saying, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

#8 – It helps you de-clutter your life: The free page is like a life coach that’s trying to help you simplify your life. It asks to you to sort through your garage or closet and remove the items you no longer use or need but don’t necessarily want to sell as you want them out of your life IMMEDIATELY.

#7 – It will save you time: First, you have a greater chance of someone picking up a free item right away as they’ll want to jump on such an amazing deal. Second, it will save you time from loading up that old couch or dresser and driving it to the nearest dump. And last but not least, it can save you time as people will actually use their own time to get it for free.

Here’s a quick story: a friend of mine wanted to take down his backyard porch. He was going to spend the entire day dismantling this huge thing and then pay money to have it discarded at the dump. I told him to post it for free on UsedEverywhere.com with the stipulation that whoever picked it up also had to take it down. He scoffed at this idea but did what I said. Within 30 minutes, he had over 20 people email and call him asking to take this porch down and way…for FREE! Now, he actually listens to me when I talk.

#6 – It will save you money: This one is pretty obvious. You save money on gas and you save money by not paying the dump.

#5 – It keeps things out of the landfill: Enough said. Everyone feels better when they can recycle and keep things out of the dump. It’s in our blood as Canadians! On this note, if you decide to put your free items out on the curb, you not only risk offending your neighbours, but if it rains, the items will be ruined, so you are now forced to spend money taking it to the landfill.

#4 – It inspires creativity: You may think those old wooden window frames you’ve posted for free are just junk or someone will only be able to reuse them on an old house. But thanks to DIY blogs and Pinterest, someone may take them and repurpose them as picture frames, abstract art or even in a wedding reception as a seating chart. The possibilities are endless!

#3 – It helps save the world: Always wanted to be a super hero? Well, here’s a role you can take on…Captain Recycle! Your mission is to keep items out of the landfill and reuse them to ensure our world is around for millions of years to come.

#2 – It will make someone really happy: As mentioned earlier, people love to get things for free. I was ecstatic last summer when someone posted a free Little Tikes push car AND picnic table. I’d been looking for these for my son for a while and couldn’t believe someone was actually giving them away for free. It made my week!

#1 – It will make you happy:  Nothing feels better than helping someone else out. While you may think that the old bed frame you posted for free is old and that nobody will take it. There will be someone out there who’s struggling and trying to rebuild their life and all they have left to complete their new apartment is a bed frame so they no longer have to sleep on their mattress on the floor. Plus, it always helps to stock-up on good karma!

So if my Top 10 List hasn’t convinced you to start using the free pages on UsedEverywhere.com, I just don’t know what else will. I would love to hear what cool and unique things you’ve found on our free page and what they mean to you. Free Page Rocks!

Cleaning Essentials: Essential Oils That are Mean on Dirt and Grime

Last week, I offered up some tips for cleaning with natural products you can find in your kitchen cupboards. I listed safe but effective cleaners such as vinegar, baking soda, lemons, salt and if you can believe it cinnamon – yep great for cleaning ovens – all of which are as effective for household spills and messes as anything you will find in the store aisle. This week, I thought I’d continue with a similar theme.

A while back I interviewed Victoria cleaners Green Wheel Cleaning about keeping your cleaning cupboards green. Helen, the owner talked about how effective essential oils can be as cleaners. Not only do they smell terrific, but many of them have anti-fungal, antiseptic and antibiotic capacities. Essential oils are plant based, so are natural, but be careful, they can still be irritants if you don’t dilute and use properly.

Here’s a list of essential oils and what you can use them for!

• Orange Essential Oil – Orange oil smells fantastic and is excellent at lifting tough stains and grime. Add 3 – 4 drops of oil to a spray bottle filled with water and a squirt of dish soap.
• Eucalyptus Essential Oil - Claims to ward off dust mites. Add several drops to your laundry.
• Lemon Essential Oil – Great on fabric stains. Add a couple of drops to the stain, let stand and then rinse or throw in the laundry. Because it is so good on stains, add it to your wash and use it in a big bucket of water to clean floors. For an effective window cleaner, add 10 drops to a spray bottle of one cup white vinegar and half a cup water.
• Peppermint Essential Oil – This oil has antibacterial properties and is a natural pest deterrent, so is a particularly effective household cleaner. Use in a spray bottle mixed with water and vinegar for your kitchen and bathroom.
• Tea Tree Essential Oil – Tea Tree is the king of essentials oils and has anti-fungal, antibacterial and antiseptic properties. Use in a spray bottle of water to attack any mouldy or mildewy areas in your bathroom, just spritz and leave and let it do its good work! This and peppermint oil are good toilet cleaners.
• Lavender Essential Oil - This is my absolute favourite and I like to add a few drops to a water bottle and just spritz it her and there. Very relaxing. For cleaning though, lavender is fantastic. Not only does it smell incredible, it’s also a major pest deterrent and is particularly good at keeping away moths. With its antibacterial properties, lavender is great for cleaning as well as adding to your garbage bags to cut through bad smells.

A Gift From The Heart?

I know this is mostly a green and frugal living blog, but today I wanted to take the time to ask a serious question about donating blood. I suppose I could have somehow made this related to Valentine’s Day, let’s see … hearts … pumping blood … ok maybe not. If you think about it though, donating blood and living green share the same philosophies. I try to live greenly to support a clean, functioning planet that will be there for me in the future, and I also believe in supporting the blood donor system so that it will be there for me and my loved ones if we ever need it.

So the question is, if the worst happened and you or someone you know needed a life-saving blood transfusion … would you want there to be a supply of donated blood available to use?

Duh. Of course you would.

Now get yourself to the blood donor clinic or bloodmobile and donate some blood. If you want to use a system in the future you have to support it today. Blood donors are always needed.

I started giving blood two years ago, mostly because I wanted to find out my blood type, and I’ve kept it up because it turned out to be sort of awesome. A few times a year I literally give the life-saving power that is within my veins, and it pretty much makes me feel like a goddamn superhero. I lay back in a padded recliner and hang out with other superheroes while our nurses attend us, and then we go have a juice box and some cookies.

Okay, to be honest the cookies suck. It’s kind of misleading that they advertise delicious free cookies as an incentive to give blood when you get two Oreos in cellophane.

But because I donated today, in the future, if me or my loved ones should ever need blood, that system will be there for us. Maybe it’s selfish reasoning, but I believe in supporting a system that I want to benefit from. That I will be saving lots of other people’s lives with my donations is just a side benefit. Also, it turns out I can get behind any system that suggests you eat steak and red wine.

It sounds supremely selfish when I write it all out, but maybe it’s a philosophy that works. All I know is that supporting the blood donor system makes sense to me and it absolutely feels like the right thing to do. Besides participating in a system of insurance for yourself and your loved ones, other selfish reasons to give blood are:

• Every time you donate you save up to three lives because there are three different products in your blood that can be used by others. You will be helping to save car crash victims, cancer patients, premature babies, and others. It feels pretty friggin’ good.

• You get to find out your blood type, which is cool.

• You get an hour off work.

• It doesn’t hurt, not really. It hurts a little bit at the very start, and then it stops. If it hurts after that, tell them to adjust the needle.

• The government can’t discover you have superpowered blood and ask you to assume the role of world hero if you don’t donate.

• You can meet cool people. You will be seated near lots of other people who all have something in common with you. If you go to a bloodmobile parked outside an office building you will meet the people who work there. Just saying.

• It’s easy to do. You can book an appointment online at www.blood.ca with the closest clinic or bloodmobile. You can also book by calling 1-888-2 DONATE.

Give from the heart!

Upcycling Ideas: Make the Most of The Free Tab on UsedEverywhere!

The mason jar mania of the last two weeks got me thinking, ‘what’s the weirdest upcycle out there?’ My ponderings were quickly answered by a browse on the UsedEverywhere blog. You may have read this great post ’5 Uses for a Toilet Paper Roll’ by my fellow blogger, Erin Berube, and like me, found the ideas ingenious. The heart stamp for Valentines and the cord organiser are just two of the ideas I will be coveting.

I decided to go in search of other upcycling possibilities and boy did I find some wonderful ideas!

Having lots of musical friends, I just love the idea of music sheet wrapping paper, trimmed with old jewelry.

I also have a lot of friends who drink wine and was amazed when I saw these upcycled wine corks. Unfortunately I cannot find a tutorial or the source for this photo, but if you are crafty enough, this could be a great gift project especially if you have a cork from a special occasion.

This next idea is a good one for those who have their eye on the Used sites. I often see old windows and doors for free on our sites. Check out this gorgous coffee table upcycle from ohgloryvintage.com.

Again, another great idea if you can grab a freebie from UsedEverywhere – a bed head board upcycled into a garden bench. Tutorial from addicted2decorating.com

It’s worth it to keep you eye on the Used sites for things people are giving away. There is even a tab specifically for Free items on the homepage of each site. Some people have renovated their whole house with free items (more of that later) but if you are a crafter or a maker, then this is where you will find ideas for many an upcycling project.

Run for The Curry: Why is curry so good for you?

First let me point out that I am not expert in cancer causes or cures or anything medical at all. The longest I’ve kept my mouth shut was during a group dinner with an expert of genetics. I think I understood about five words of the whole conversation ie, ‘Hello, pleased to meet you’ and for the rest of the evening, I sat there wondering what everyone was talking about. I knew it was genes with a “g”, but that was about it.

My last two posts have been really popular and I’ve had a few people thank me and my interviewees for sharing such important information about the toxins in our everyday lives. I made the switch to natural makeup a while back and it can be said that on cleaning days my house smells like a fish and chip shop because of my love of baking soda and vinegar as natural and effective cleaning products. I genuinely want to avoid cancer causing toxins in my home and body.

The interview with Megan from The Green Kiss was particularly poignant given that it was provoked by a breast cancer patient visiting Megan’s natural cosmetics bar. This lady had made the visit on the advice of her medical practitioner. This month is breast cancer awareness month, so if you don’t check your breasts every month, you should start. In keeping with this, I want to talk about curry. I’ve been meaning to research and write about it’s health benefits for some time, so here goes.

In our house we eat a lot of curry. Being from the UK, curry is my national dish and I can’t go for more than a week without a good one.  My husband, who is a fantastic cook has taken up curry cooking. ‘We’ make all our sauces from scratch with the pestle and mortar and are guided by a couple of really terrific recipe books, our favourite being 50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi. This book not only offers amazing recipes, but it also talks you through each spice and ingredient and how and why it is used in Indian cooking.

I have heard a lot about the medicinal benefits of Indian spices including their potency against the multiplication of malignant cells in the body. I tried in vain to find the statistics on cancer in India, but the only information I picked up was that most cancer goes unreported or undetected until stage three or four.

I did however find some good information on the healing properties of different spices and I’d like to share that and some of the info with you.

• Turmeric: Although not a cancer, Alzheimers is a degenerative disease that affects many. Current research shows that turmeric has the potential to help Alzheimers patients by removing amyloid plaque, a major cause of the disease. Turmeric is also considered king of spices when it comes to dealing with cancers. Turmeric contains the powerful polyphenol Curcumin that has been clinically proven to retard the growth of cancer cells causing prostrate cancer, melanoma, breast cancer, brain tumour, pancreatic cancer and leukemia amongst a host of others. Curcumin promotes ‘Apoptosis’- (programmed cell death/cell suicide) that safely eliminates cancer breeding cells without posing a threat to the development of other healthy cells. Turmeric also helps lower blood pressure.

• Fennel: ‘Anethole’, a major constituent of fennel resists and restricts the adhesive and invasive activities of cancer cells. It suppresses the enzymatic regulated activities behind cancer cell multiplication. Fennel is also good for digestion, assisting in breast milk production and may help with kid’s colic.

• Cinnamon: A natural food preservative, cinnamon is a source of iron and calcium. Useful in reducing tumour growth, it blocks the formation of new vessels in the human body.

• Cumin: Anti-oxidant characteristics, cumin seeds contain a compound called ‘Thymoquinone’ that checks proliferation of cells responsible for prostate cancer.
• Oregano: Phyto-chemical ‘Quercetin’ present in oregano restricts growth of malignant cells in the body and acts like a drug against cancer-centric diseases.

References:

Highway Cafe and More: The Hungry Rooster

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t heard the words ‘one day I’d love my own food truck’ about a dozen times in the past six months. Just think of it, a life on the road, serving up your daily creations to fans all over the city, festivals, events, different faces everyday chowing down on the food you lovingly prepared. It really does sound like a fabulous and romantic sort of daydream does it not!

Well this week, I interviewed a woman fulfilling these mobile restaurant dreams. Paulina Tokarski is the principal behind The Hungry Rooster, a Victoria, BC-based food truck that does all of the above and then some. Parked Tuesday – Friday at 777 Courtenay Street in Victoria and then at various Vancouver Island locations on weekends, The Hungry Rooster is a testament to lots of hardwork and creative vision. Here Paulina tells us more about her delicious fusion of Eastern European flavours, her initial motivation and offers tips to those with the same ideas of culinary adventure.

I’m a hungry rooster, what’s on the menu?

Home made perogies, done traditionally as well as infused with sauce from around the world. Local delicious sausages, and our famous Perogie Slap Down- a grill cheese perogies sandwich with bacon, aioli, and cheese on sour dough bread.

And where am I going to hunt you down?

Our primary “roost” for the food truck is on Courtney Street and Douglas. We serve lunches 11-3:30. The best way to track us down is by checking our Facebook calendar or following us on Twitter. We update everything daily with our specials and locations.

You’re a food truck? Well that’s amazing, but how do you prep and cook in such a confined space?

It’s a lot of work, much more then a restaurant. I have a few freezers and fridges at home where I store everything that I can’t fit in the small fridge in the truck. All my sauces and prep are done in the morning on the truck. We make everything fresh daily. We are constantly prepping, for bigger events we may prep the day before and early in the morning. Lets just say its been a very busy summer.

Where do you source your produce?

My perogies are made by my mom, Janina, who has her own commercial kitchen on Salt Spring Island. All the perogies ( 6 different varieties) are made by her and can be bought in several stores in Victoria: Market on Yates, Lifestyles Market, Red Barn Market, Mothers Nature (Cook St. Village). My meat comes from Two Rivers, a local distruibuter who sources his product from the lower mainland. Our meat is free of antibiotics and hormones, is ethically raised and of the best quality. My produce come from local produce, GFS and my garden.

How else do you keep your impact on our planet as low as possible?

We recycle everything we can. We compost our fresh food peels in my garden. I use compostable cutlery and packaging.

I’m in a rush, but I need lunch, surprise me?

All our food is prepared in 3-5 minutes, we are a food truck after all!

Now, I’ve had a few and I’m heading home hoping for no hangover tomorrow, do you have a late night cure for me? 

We use to do late night, not anymore. The Slap Down is our hangover cure, for sure.

How did this business come about? What was the inspiration?

We wanted to do something different. I drove all the way to Hollywood and found my truck there. I wanted to be mobile and move around serving customers all over the city. Its hard work but it’s worth it. Victoria is still new to the food truck business, but I am hoping we can come up with a way to make everyone happy and allow the trucks to bring some food street culture to our city.

Why mobile and not static?

I use to own a restaurant/deli in town for 13 years. Why not? I thought that it would give me more flexibility, especially in the off season. As a seasonal worker I can work really hard during the summer and relax a little in the winter.

What do you think, will you always be on Vancouver Island, or will you travel the world… you have the perfect means!

Our first season in Victoria has been very, very busy for us. There are many vibrant events and festivals that happen in Victoria during the summer. I like to go up island for Vancouver Island Folk Festival or Filberg festival but venturing any farther than that might be too much for our Rooster Truck.

Do you cater special events? Say weddings, bar mitzvahs and the like?

Yes I do. I did couple of private events this summer but it needs to be a big event to make it worth while on a weekend. Weekdays are a bit more flexible as will be the offseason.

And you know we love used, so what’s your best used find?

My Rooster Truck. It is 2001 and needed a lot of work before we had him driving on streets of victoria. We also bought all our fridges, our deli slicer and our prep table second hand.

Anything else we need to know about The Hungry Rooster?

We love home made food, our planet and our community.

Any advice to people on a similar adventure?

Your biggest issue will be finding a spot where the city will allow you serve food from a truck. Be creative and be ready to work long hours and weekends.

And finally, for the big groan finale, why did the chicken cross the road? (I know right)

To come see the Rooster, and get some of those awesome perogies!

Top 10 Items for a Bummer Summer

Oh, Victoria. Why do you taunt us? The first half of May was lovely, the first three days of July were a delight… and then the environment seemed to sputter and cough and give up. We’ve skipped to September? But why, summer? Why?!

It’s been a bummer summer on the West Coast, and no one is pleased. All is not lost, friends! I’ve devised a list of nifty finds to salvage what remains (even if it is spent inside… or with a coat on).

1. Tent Who says you have to set it up outside? Camping inside is totally a thing, people. It’s a city-person thing, but a thing nonetheless!

2. Wellies You pretty much need them these days. At least you’ll only be cranky because it’s raining and not because it’s raining and your feet are wet. Am I right?!

3. Comics This really shouldn’t require any explanation.

4. Hoodie Heading to the beach, even though it’s 14 degrees? Yeah, you are!! Put a hoodie on though, that breezy is nippy.

5. Suitcase Useful for packing for your vacation… elsewhere. Hopefully featuring sun.

6. Movies that never end. Got a rainy day and some time to kill? Watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy! Yayyyy!!! That’s at least nine or ten consecutive hours. Maybe twelve if you watch the bonus features.

7. Kitchen Things. You’ve got some time, why not learn a new recipe? Or nine. Or if you’re like me, learn to cook things besides a frittata and that Pad Thai that comes in a box… even if your grandma isn’t like mine and doesn’t insist that you won’t ever get married until you can cook. Thanks, Meme. I’m 22.

8. Dress Up. Particularly if you or someone you know has a baby small enough to fit in a banana costume. Oh, the hilarity. Please refrain from putting babies you don’t know in banana costumes. That’s weird.

9. Bowling. Whether you use this set or hit your local alley, so much fun!

10. A Pool. Because when summer does arrive… you’ll be ready to show it who’s boss.

A barrel of laughs, er, rain

Our rain barrel is one of the best purchases we ever made around our house. It’s about ten years old and it’s still going strong.

We bought it at Arbour, a cute eco-friendly store in the Glebe. In its former life our barrel was a commercial-grade olive container. With a capacity of about 200 litres, I truly can’t imagine how many olives floated around in that thing once upon a time. Arbour still carries them, but I’ve noticed there are a bunch of them on Used Ottawa too.

It is very simple.

1. Rain falls on the roof of our home
2. It makes its way to one of the downspouts and into the rainbarrel
3. That’s it.

The water is there, ready to be used during the next dry spell. A screw on lid with a mesh covering prevents children, mosquitoes and other critters from getting in there, a spigot at the bottom allows me to easily prop a watering can underneath, and a hose near the top prevents overflow.

There’s enough water for me to keep my containers in good shape if there’s a dry spell.

Not only am I making a small dent in my water bill (ok, a very small one), but it makes me deeply happy to know that I’m doing my part to conserve water and giving my garden a long cool drink of the good stuff.

Also, drawing water from it requires a bit of patience. The flow is a little slower than you’d get with a hose, so I am forced to stand there and wait for an extra minute or two. I spend this time gazing around the garden, sometimes I pick a few weeds, but you know… I would argue that waiting is not necessarily a bad thing.

If you’re interested, heed my advice and pick one up quick. They’ll be in short supply around Ottawa, especially with water bans in the south end of the city.

Do you have a rainbarrel or two? Has it made a difference in your life? Do you love it, or do you love it?

Earth Hour Top 7!

We’re a month shy of Earth Day (April 22nd – no forgetting!), but while you’re getting organized for that you can have fun with Earth Hour on March 26th at 8:30pm.

What is it? Glad you asked! It started in Sydney, Australia as a way to show support for the planet and take a stand against climate change. All you have to do is turn the lights off for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 26th. Easy, right? Besides the energy savings of the lights being off, Earth Hour helps make people more mindful of their energy consumption –  a hot topic these days.

creative commons image courtesy of Muffet

So here, in honour of Earth Hour, are the Top 7 thing to do while the lights are out (well, the Top 7 PG things anyway)!

1. Make an Earth Hour Lantern! You can do that right here, and maybe make a real one for the event, too!
2. Earth Hour Party! Invite some friends over to hang out by candle light or flash light, make some snacks and have fun! Sitting in the dark is way more fun with your buds.
3. S’mores! A little indoor or outdoor fire (safety first everyone!), a little marshmallow, graham cracker, chocolate? Cuddle up in some blankets and tell campfire stories. A guaranteed success.
4. Movie time! The lights are going to be out anyway – why not make some popcorn and curl up with a movie?
5. Pitch-black art projects. Canvases? Finger-painting? Kick it like it’s 1994 (or whatever year it was when you were 5) and get some crazy art happening. You never know, it could turn out to be really cool! Just be sure to lay down some newspaper first and stay away from those scissors!
6. Marco Polo/Hide and Go Seek. Maybe move pointy or potentially dangerous out of the way first.
7. Sleep! Why not call it an early night and catch up on some Zzzz’s? Especially if you had a late night Friday…

Happy Earth Hour!

Update: Can’t believe I forgot to mention this (it’s been a long week): Our site will be dark during Earth Hour! We did it last year, we’re doing it again!

It's a Green Initiative!

Holy water-bottle/light-bulbs, Batman!

Check out this incredible idea from an ingenious engineer in Brazil! Use a 2 L bottle in the place of a 50 Watt light bulb!