What's in your wallet?

When did I move to Vermont? Oh, I guess I didn't - we wouldn't be cooped up in our houses in Vermont - they know what to do with all this snow. It's another story here - no one knows what to do with it all. We got 30+ inches in the last storm over the weekend, and another storm hit us last night - it is still snowing. I finally got out yesterday and took Peanut to the farmers market to run around with her friends and get some vittles.

The streets feel like rural gravel and dirt roads - even some of the main streets are still snow packed and rutted. People are either driving like they are petrified, or absolutely insane. I had to swerve to miss a guy driving in the center of our bumpy, icy neighborhood road, cigarette in one hand, cell phone in the other, going a good 20 miles over the speed limit. On the flip side, getting onto the highway after a woman going 3 miles an hour flashing her brakes the whole way was no picnic either.

Today it seems that everyone has given up. We are all still in our pjs. Peanut is sitting in front of the TV. Most days, that magic box isn't turned on until 4pm if at all. Our neighbor who was out there shoveling every few hours the last storm is no where to be seen today. The plows have driven by, but the plows are raised. It's hump day, and we have all decided to wait it out this week and start fresh Monday.

What else is there to do except clean and organize? Pumpkin is growing so fast I can barely keep up with him. I take stuff out of his closet and unload a new box of the next size in. Thank goodness for friends and family with clothes to pass on! I try to pass on as much as we can too, so now I have baby clothes all over our bed - nice little piles "consignment", "freecycle", "donate", "for baby ___", which is great except that the piles will stay until any of the takers can come and get them. So my attempts to be more organized are thwarted - I have just created more junk that is out in the open instead of neatly hidden in a closet.

We did finish our taxes, and cleaned out a bunch of old files. I closed out a whole slew of store credit cards yesterday. I am going to be excited on the day (in the very far future) when i can pull a credit report that won't be 50 pages of stuff. Once these accounts get purged we should have a nice short clean document. (WARNING - do not try this if you are in any way looking to take out a loan in the near future - they HATE it when you have multiple closed accounts) This credit purge is just the next step in greening our lives - we've been going to paperless billing on anything we can, and really don't shop in the stores we had cards for that often, if at all. Many of the accounts I closed hadn't been used in a few years. As I piled up these old cards to be shredded, it occurred to me that we are wasting an awful lot of plastic with everyone getting new cards issued every year or two for almost everything. We have gift cards, insurance cards, credit cards, membership cards.... Where do they go and what can we do with them besides chuck 'em?

Most gift cards and credit cards are made from PVC, much of it virgin. Of course, PVC is not the most environmentally friendly material to start with, so either having card made from something else or cards made from old used cards are the best options. Some companies are using corn based plastics, biodegradable cards, and electronic gift cards. Most of us will chop up our credit cards so we can protect our information - these can still be recycled. Once they are used and there is no $ value remaining, gift cards are not a threat to your security or identity. Instead of leaving them in a drawer or your wallet or tossing them in the trash, consider reusing or recycling them. Earthworks is a company that will accept and recycle your plastic cards. They also provide companies with recycled material for gift cards, so green businesses can take advantage of this and avoid contributing further to the PVC pile up. Some stores are now accepting their old cards back for recycling as well, but be sure you ask as many will just toss them in the trash.

So what can you do? Use cash. Avoid those cards if you can, but if you must, there are some ways you can make an impact. Reload the cards you do use - no one needs a new Starbucks or Barnes and Noble card every holiday season. Next time you buy or use a gift card, ask the store about the material it is made from and whether they accept them back for recycling. Who has time (or the chutzpah) to do this? Well, how else can you make a change except by making the time to do it? I called three companies today to ask about the gift cards in my wallet. JC Penny had no idea whether their cards were PVC or recycled or another more earth friendly material. The customer service representative did say the cards can be reloaded, but he also said that they do not recycle their cards, they just toss 'em. The person I spoke with at Gap, said there is something special about their cards but she did not know what it was. Their online site reports that Gap has developed gift cards made with 88% recycled content. Gap gift cards can be reloaded and recycled, and the Gap stores will also accept your other cards for recycling. I spoke with a sweet Starbucks representative who said they are working on this issue, but have yet to find either an alternative to PVC for their cards nor enough locations for recycling. Of course, you can reload your Starbucks card. In my very brief search online, I found that you really have to dig to find out information about this. Companies who do use alternative materials and recycle their cards should be shouting it from the rooftops. Instead it is hidden beneath a bunch of other random corporate policies.

The idea of sending your credit card off to be recycled is a little scarier, although really, how is it better to throw it in the trash? Ask your bank for your debit and credit cards; do they use alternative materials, can you continue to use the same card forever, do they accept them back for recycling? When you look in your wallet, you will realize there are plastic cards galore - membership cards, licenses, grocery club cards, library cards... Talk to your gym manager about their membership cards, your county about the library card, your grocery store, the DMV. If you work in a store or company that uses or provides cards of any kind, bring it up to the management. Discuss it with your friends and family and resolve to coordinate gifting so as not to add cards. Use the service the Gap offers and drop off all your used gift cards there for recycling! In my wallet alone there are over 4 ounces of PVC cards. It may not seem like much, but it adds up fast. The number I've seen thrown around is 75 million pounds of PVC from cards goes into the waste stream every year. Let's try to make that way less!

Unplanned Landscaping

I do like the snow. I have to admit, I have wished for more of it during my time living here in Virginia. I've pshawed when schools close, rolled my eyes at drivers who won't go out in an inch of snow, lost patience with the multiple mentions of black ice... in New York we built igloos at the bus stop. Please people. So perhaps this is my fault - we have had so much snow this winter it's crazy! The last few snows have been fine - enough to have fun and play in, but the roads got cleared pretty easily and everyone got back to work fairly soon.

Peanut has loved playing in the snow! We just finished our first month of preschool where we learned about winter and snow, so we've read every snow related book, done experiments with snow melting, made clouds out of cotton, found animal tracks in the snow and made snow angels. She's got a lot in her head that she wants to do right about now, and seeing the snow makes her chomp at the bit! Here's some pics of the last storm - she found a stick (like Peter in The Snowy Day) and made tracks with it. She made her snow angels, and just really loved being out there. You'd never guess she was 25lbs with all that gear on.

When it began to snow yesterday, it was exciting! It began fast and furious, and Peanut started talking about going out to play. With the forecasters saying two feet or more of snow, I gently reminded her that if we couldn't play outside we had tons to do inside.

Well, she's 2. You can't just tell her it is too deep. We got all bundled up this morning, and went outside. I carried her down the deck stairs and when I was knee deep in snow (yes - knee deep) I plunked her down. She decided to go back inside and play with daddy and Pumpkin. Good plan. So I trudged around in the snow, cleared off the vents and mechanicals for the house (again - Honey did that a few times last night) and went around to check out the yard. Our crazy dog came along, sticking to my heels like glue in the path I made.

Last night we had begun to notice some of our trees were pretty low to the ground. We also heard some cracks and creaks as the snow continued to pile on and knew we'd lose some trees. One is really close to the house and leans our way. I got a little freaked out before I realized that we were being given an opportunity to landscape differently. I keep saying how I want to expand the garden, and lament where some of the trees are. Here you go - they are not there anymore! Honey went out a few times to scope it out before we turned in for the night trusting that we would wake up house intact. One of the funniest parts of last night was that every time we looked out our front window, our neighbor was out there shoveling - "got to keep ahead of the storm". Yeah. At midnight? We just stayed in our warm house and surveyed the scene.

On my expedition around the yard this morning - it felt like an epic journey - I did break a sweat out there - I found several trees down, some about to go, and our fence crushed in a few spots. We had planned on replacing the fence - now I am so glad it was at the bottom of our list! I'd hate to have trees fall on a brand new fence!

The scariest part of all this, is that these photos are from 8:30am, and it is now 2:30 and STILL SNOWING! I have had visions of going completely stir crazy by Monday if it just keeps coming down. At least Pumpkin is napping now. Peanut is in bed, singing and talking to her babies, and intermittently calling for someone. She's convinced she needs to pee, poop, blow her nose, get a drink, and have a snack rather than sleep.

We've pulled out all the stops today to ensure that we don't go nuts. I'm scheduling our days up with art projects, activities, snack times, and more so Peanut has plenty to do and doesn't become a TV watching zombie who refuses to sleep at night. This morning, we painted in the "museum" as Peanut calls it. We have paper taped to the walls in out downstairs hallway that the kids used for preschool artwork. We've added quite a bit to the masterpiece today. We also had a craft time and decorated our small snowmen, again leftovers from preschool (it worked out great for us, huh?!). Even Honey got into that one. Peanut directed him where he had to put stickers and a hat and all on his snowman. Sadly, I think these are the only snowmen we will be making for a while. The snow was perfect for sculpting, but it is just too deep! Maybe once we can get out on the deck, we can make a real one.

Dog PTSD

Dogs love snow. My dog loved snow. She ran and jumped and stuck her nose under the snow to make little trails. She played out there with us, threw her face up to catch snow we flung around, and chased Peanut in the yard. She loved snow! That is, she loved snow until she became snow traumatized. I think she has PTSD. When we had that crazy 2 foot snow here several weeks ago, she lost all of her dogness in snow. She ran out and promptly sank into the snow past her chest, turned around and waited at the back door. She must have held her bodily functions in for days. She'd walk out, see it was still white and turn right around. Honey even shoveled a little path for her, and led her out there on her leash to prove it was OK. She finally used the bathroom, but only in the confines of the little path.

So that snow has finally melted, and all has been back to normal (well normal for a loony rescue dog with some autistic tendencies). This morning, a light snow was falling and our family (OK, not Honey) was getting excited to make snow angels and run outside. Peanut has been talking about wearing her "new pink snow pants today! and my scarf! and my hat! and my new pink jacket!" and I have some new snow boots I'd like to take for a spin. Around lunch, we let the dog out in the new snow. It's about 2" or so deep, and really fluffy - perfect dog snow. She walked outside, stepped off the porch, turned around and came back to the door. She sat there shaking like a leaf until we let her back inside. Come to think of it, she was watching the snow fall out the window this morning before we had even a dusting and had a really worried expression. It looks like we will need to have an intervention this afternoon if we want her to pee outside.

Oy this dog. She is really sweet and gentle and is so patient with the poking and prodding she gets from the kids, but man she is a piece of work!