Just a Little Earth Day Post

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a bit of a hippy. Yes, I recycle, I try to avoid wasting electricity, I turn the water off while I brush my teeth and I try to buy recycled products when I can. No, I am not an eco-zealot, but I do believe that there are little things that we can all do to take better care of the planet, many of which require little to no extra effort.

I have not always been a big water drinker, but I have been making an effort to get my full recommended 64oz. of water a day. We all know that bottled water is expensive and for those of you who do not recycle, it adds A LOT of waste to our landfills. Luckily I happen to live in Small Town USA in the Mountains of Colorado and I have well water, here we don't have to drink bottled water or worry about having a water filter. However for those of you who aren't as lucky visit FilterForGood to see how Nalgene and Brita have teamed up to help cut down on waste from bottled water. I liked it 'cause it's sponsored by Nalgene, and I just happen to have a slight obsession with Nalgene water bottles (especially covered in stickers, but we will save that for a future blog). Don't believe me? Well here is just a portion of my collection.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. As a nature/landscape photographer, who just so happens to be lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful places around Leave No Trace is another organization that is worth checking out. Isn't that really a principal that we should all live by anyway? I am all for enjoying nature, with summer just around the corner I know I am ready to partake in all of my favorite outdoor activities. But just be considerate of the next person and leave your favorite outdoor getaway in the same or better condition than you found it.

And of course what mountain girl does not enjoy a good beer? And it just so happens that some of my favorite beers of choice are brewed by Colorado's own New Belgium Brewery who just so happen to use wind power to brew their beers (and have for over a decade!) Even my faithful friend Mr. Fat Tire Flyer, who is currently hanging around on my wall waiting to go out and play is made of recycled plastic :) Recycling can be fun!

So have fun, enjoy nature, drink beer and feel free to share your own eco-friendly links.

Scotch and Home-Brew Beer

I know I haven't written much lately, but that's because I decided to take a month off of drinking (I may have gone a little overboard partying for my birthday at the end of March). I decided to post a little somethin' anyway. I wasn't planning on posting about this since it's not really a brewery, but I'm gonna anyway.

A couple of my friends make their own home-brew beer, which so far has been pretty good.

The first beer they made was a European Bock which was really good. When their next batch was ready to be bottled I offered to help (since I helped them drink the last batch). So, I spent an evening washing out beer bottles (many of which I had donated to their cause) and putting caps on 3 cases of beer.

I capped those beers, go me!

And as my friend Tom told me that I would appreciate it more if I helped... I told him that I ALWAYS appreciate beer, but I was pretty proud of myself :)

Tom looking through the beer recipe book, trying to pick the next batch

After 2 weeks of waiting, not so patiently, the beer was ready to drink and it was delicious, tasted a lot like Fat Tire! So, we have this tradition of getting together on Friday nights and drinking the home-brew beer and as of late Scotch (since Tom is on a mission to become a Scotch aficionado).

 The official first taste of the beer I helped bottle.

I know, I know, the Scotch is not from Colorado, but not everything I drink can be from Colorado :) This is probably a good part of the reason that I needed a detox month, but it's always fun!