Starlite studies 'green' living

Four Bourbon County ladies traveled to Moran on Sept. 16. There, they joined a group from Allen County for the Starlite Unit lesson, "Green Choices for Selecting, Preparing and Serving Meals." This lesson was presented by Barbara Stockebrand, the Woodson County Home Extension Agent. Mrs. Stockebrand was introduced to the group by Allen County Agent Kathy McEwan.

Mrs. Stockebrand explained that "green" can have many meanings. These include recycling, making our own remedies, using processes in the kitchen that are designed to save money and reduce pollution, using energy efficient methods of preparing foods, etc. The average housewife makes over 200 decisions a day. Some of these decisions deal with food -- what to cook, how to prepare it, what to serve with it, amount to fix, costs, tastes, nutritional values, etc. Then there are those decisions about how to recycle the left-overs, and how to dispose of or recycle the packaging materials. In making these decisions, we need to consider how we can be less wasteful.

Grocery shopping is an important area in which the housewife makes decisions regarding efficient use of resources. Obvious examples include utilizing sales, comparing brands, and evaluating nutritional values. A less obvious example deals with the purchase of cleaning supplies. Some cleaning materials are also disinfectants while others are not. Be aware of the difference and choose the product best suited to your needs.

The meeting closed with a magazine exchange.

-- Submitted by

Betty Johnson