Archive for the ‘Sustainable Living’ Category
Frugal Living: Super Easy, Super Cheap Carpet Stain Remover
By ERIN TURNER - Last week, I found the "Miracle Carpet Stain Remover” technique on Pinterest. I'm happy to say that it definitely lives up to its name!... more
Frugal Living: Figuring Out Walgreens’ New Coupon Rewards Program
By ERIN TURNER - I've done some footwork to figure out Walgreens' new customer rewards program. It may seem confusing, but the Coupon Queen is here to help!... more
Balancing Out the Montana “Mountain Tax”
By JENNIFER LODINE-CHAFFEY - Many Montanans talk about the “mountain tax” to describe the wage gap between here and other states. But it really does balance out.... more
What To Do with All Those Tomatoes? Make Homemade Ketchup!
By ERIN TURNER - With the abundance of tomatoes this year, I’ve explored some new ways to use them, including homemade ketchup. Here's my recipe!... more
Quality is the Key When Couponing
By ERIN TURNER - Does buying off-brand items always pays off? My answer is usually--you just have to be careful. Quality is the key when couponing.... more
The Missoula Job Service: Helping Local Businesses
By JENNIFER LODINE-CHAFFEY - In addition to helping Missoulians find work, the Missoula Job Service offers services to support local businesses, like Submittable.... more
Save Money with Easy School Night Dinners
By ERIN TURNER - With school starting up soon, I'm getting organized for fall. Making freezable meals in advance saves money and makes life easier on school nights.... more
The Economic Impact of Missoula’s Saturday Markets
By JENNIFER LODINE-CHAFFEY - In addition to creating a vibrant community, there are a number of economic benefits to supporting Missoula's farmers' markets.... more
Paul Wheaton on Polyculture
By PAUL WHEATON - A polyculture is a mix of plants all trading their unique goodness with other plants. All plant-eating animals are designed to eat plants from a polyculture.... more
4-H Kids Go for Gold (and Blue) at the Western Montana Fair
By ERIN TURNER - The Western Montana Fair opens this Tuesday, but for 4-H kids, the fair started months ago. Stop by to congratulate them on their hard work!... more
Young Men, Fire, and the Missoula Fire Lab
By MARK VOSBURGH - It's August, it's hot, and it's fire season. If you haven't read Norman Maclean's Montana literary classic, "Young Men and Fire", now is the time.... more
Paul Wheaton’s CFL Video goes live
By ANDY COMMONS - Think CFLs are good? Paul Wheaton has just produced a video that says otherwise. Andy sheds light on the issue.... more
Save Big As We Say Goodbye to Missoula’s Kmart
By ERIN TURNER - On September 30, the Missoula Kmart will close its doors for good. It is sad to see the end of an era, but the silver lining is that everything's on sale!... more
Tired of Tilling? Try Seed Balls
By PAUL WHEATON - Ever thought of lobbing seeds into your field? No tilling, just a good arm? Seed balls are used in no-tilling cultivation to get seeds established.... more
Eliminate the Cost of Chicken Feed
By PAUL WHEATON - I used to sell my chickens for nearly the same price I paid for feed. I found ways to not only eliminate feed costs, but provide higher-quality feed! ... more
Kale Chips and More Easy, Healthy, Homegrown Summer Veggie Chips
By ERIN TURNER - Each week at the Farmers’ Market, I am asked two questions: 1) Do you have kale? and 2) Do you know how to make kale chips? Yes and yes!... more
Can Pigs Build Ponds?
By PAUL WHEATON - Don't even THINK of using a pond liner if you have pigs around. Paul Wheaton shows us a better way to seal a pond using pigs.... more
Take a Walk: The Glacial Lake Missoula High-Water Mark
By KP NICHOLS - 15,000 years ago, Missoula was underwater. Today, you can hike to the highwater mark on Sentinel and Jumbo and use your imagination to fill in the details.... more
Frugal Living: Save Money with an Old-Fashioned Remedy
By ERIN TURNER - I love economical, old-fashioned remedies and natural ways of curing minor ailments, so I was thrilled when I discovered all the benefits of Epsom salt.... more
Frugal Living: 10 Summertime Money-Saving Tips
By ERIN TURNER - With warmer temperatures and longer days, summer offers us a lot of easy, smart opportunities to save money. Some are delicious, too!... more
Montana Wildfires: What Are the Odds?
By MARK VOSBURGH - With the Scratch Gravel Hill fire burning near Helena, our wildfire season has begun in Western Montana. What are the odds of forest near you burning?... more
How NOT to raise chickens
By PAUL WHEATON - This comic artist is exceptionally brilliant at capturing very common and complicated issues that can arise for people who have never raised chickens before. I think the desire to steward chi... more
A Time to Preserve Summer’s Harvest
By ERIN TURNER - Despite the slow start to the growing season, crops are finally popping up. These are the days filled with fresh food straight from the garden (or from the markets) and it's time to stock up.... more
My Inexpensive, DIY Kitchen Remodel
By LISA HENSLEY - When we moved into our house, we planned to update the kitchen. In the end, we saved thousands of dollars refinishing the cabinets ourselves.... more
A Pinterest Project: Organize Kids’ Art Projects & School Papers
By ERIN TURNER - Now that school's out, I'm facing tons of my kids' school papers, art projects, and stories. Fortunately, I found a Pinterest project to get it organized.... more
Will Our Forests Burn this Summer?
By MARK VOSBURGH - You are a fire-adapted Missoulian. Wildfires don't come as a surprise, but the question lingers: Will this be one of those summers that brings fires?... more
Frugal Living: Healthy, Easy, Cheap Breakfasts for Everyone
By ERIN TURNER - If you're like me, it's a challenge to come up with breakfasts that are cheap, healthy, and easy. Here are some ideas that everyone in my family loves.... more
Frugal Living: 25 Frugal Uses for the Humble Coffee Filter
By ERIN TURNER - In my quest to keep household costs down, I found a huge variety of tips and ideas for saving money using coffee filters. It's amazing what you can do!... more
A Pinterest Project: Get Organized with DIY Spice Jars
By ERIN TURNER - My kitchen was being overrun by all my spices until I stumbled on a great project I saw on Pinterest: Recycle old bottles into DIY spice containers. ... more
Eat Local and Eat Well with Community Supported Agriculture
By ERIN TURNER - Community Supported Agriculture farms have started to become popular in Missoula. They're a great way to eat healthy, local, economical food.... more
Frugal Living: Eat Tapas, Cut Your Grocery Bill
By ERIN TURNER - Serving tapas-style food, a traditional Spanish small-plates meal, is a delicious, easy way to cut your grocery budget significantly.... more
Frugal Living: Go Green and Grow Your Own Food
By ERIN TURNER - Growing your own food is making a huge comeback. Not only are homegrown fruits and veggies healthier, but you can save a ton of money, too.... more
Frugal Living: The Art of the Garage Sale
By ERIN TURNER - With its distinct neighborhoods and their close proximity to one other, Missoula's a great garage sale town. Here are some tips for hosting a great sale.... more
Reuse It, Missoula: A DIY Fabric-Covered Lampshade
By LISA HENSLEY - My niece is graduating to a room of her own, and OF COURSE I had to just butt in with decorating ideas. I made her a repurposed, DIY lampshade.... more
Frugal Living: Mouthwatering, Homemade Deli Meat
By ERIN TURNER - Last week, I made homemade deli-style sliced meat from an elk roast. Not only was it a Montana-style money saver, it was delicious!... more
A Successful Frugal Living Pantry Challenge
By ERIN TURNER - With the close of February drawing near, our month-long Frugal Living Pantry Challenge is winding down. The result? We saved a TON of money! ... more
Greenwashing Light Bulbs
By PAUL WHEATON - The object propelling the greatest greenwashing scheme of all time is the CFL.... more
The Frugal Living Pantry Challenge
By ERIN TURNER - Our family is doing a Frugal Pantry Challenge for the month of February.... more
Winter Warmer: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
By LISA HENSLEY - I do all the meal planning, shopping, and cooking for our family. Sometimes, trying to come up with ANOTHER meal is more than I’m up for. That’s when I get a rotisserie chicken.... more
What’s so interesting about Pinterest?
By ERIN TURNER - Have you heard about the new social network addiction called Pinterest? It's my new favorite way to get inspired, save time, and be frugal.... more
Keep those branches, twigs, rotten logs, and Christmas trees!
By PAUL WHEATON - Paul Wheaton shows us ways to recycle wood. These tips sure beat making a big pile and burning it!... more
Testing to see if you are an Eco Poser
By PAUL WHEATON - It's cool to be green. Especially in Missoula. Here's how to test to see if you are an Eco Poser.... more
Living Laboratory: State Arboretum at the University of Montana
On April 4, 1991, the Montana legislature and the Board of Regents designated the arboretum at the University of Montana. Today, three stories of plants reach to the ceiling of the University Center.... more
Being Noble
By PAUL WHEATON - Paul talks about people, community, intentional community, being nice, mean and even noble.... more
Turn Holiday Window Decorations into Scrapbook Layouts
By LISA HENSLEY - I have to confess to a secret holiday decorating obsession: Window clings. But I hate to throw them away, so I started repurposing them on scrapbook pages.... more
Hunting for Clarity on Thanksgiving Break
By CLAY SPRINGMEYER - Whether you're in Missoula or not, if you live or have ever lived in Montana, count yourself lucky. 20 years of Big Sky Country have taught me to be thankful.... more
How to Make Tin Can Lanterns
By LISA HENSLEY - I was having some friends over for a housewarming party last week, and wanted decorate with luminaries. I almost rushed out to buy luminary bags before I remembered that I could make tin can l... more
Introducing the Heirloom Winter Market
By KRISTEN LEE-CHARLSON - On Saturday, I launched the Heirloom Winter Market, a sort of extension of the local farmers' markets which had their last day of the season the week prior.... more
How I Cut 87% Off My Heating Bills Last February
By PAUL WHEATON. Paul tells us how he cut is electric bill by 87% last winter. Try his simple ideas for yourself.... more
Diatomaceous Earth: Bug Killer You Can Eat!
By PAUL WHEATON. Paul tells us all about Diatomaceous Earth. ... more