Andy's Idea Factory

Over the past year I've upleveled my herbalist knowledge - for 30 years I've been a dabbling amateur when it comes to natural health; finding solutions for myself and making a few things here and there like my "Green Cream" comfrey salve  and facial toner  that I share and sell. I've grown my own herbs and foraged herbs. I've interned on an Intentional Community in Oregon that track on herbalism, studied with under 3 herbalists in Colorado, and worked next to an apothecary in Scotland (visiting it and gleaning knowledge almost daily).  It felt like a long time coming, to do a 12-month intensive certification in herbalism to deep dive into the plant knowledge that fuels my fire. 2024 was that year.  So when my 80-year old mother locked in a total knee replacement this past December and asked me to come down and help her and my dad navigate through the surgery and and her first week of recovery, I jumped at the chance to do some research, bring some medicine, an...

Upon taking position as Zero Waste Coordinator for the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council , as of today I have made a commitment to not only help Steamboat become the first Zero Waste resort town in Colorado, but to also begin tracking my own waste, my family's waste, and the waste, consumption, and impact of my fellow humans around me, wherever I may go, whenever possible. I currently travel frequently for work because I am coordinating a huge training project for Amtrak trains, educating 8000 employees on better handling customers with disabilities . My work with this travel market over the last five years has led me into much research and study of travel and impact of and on travelers and our planet, great experience which I hope to bring into the world of sustainability and our impact on our precious planet. Yesterday while traveling back from Miami to Steamboat, I thought to begin my mission of tracking in this new capacity. To start, I always travel with my own drin...

This weekend in Nashville I gave my mother a 101 lesson on her point-and-shoot, and decided much of this information could be useful to others... as I've said in my other two P&S101 posts (1) (2) , most people don't have time to read their entire camera manual, especially when the device works just fine with Power, Autoflash, and the Automatic setting. But the auto setting isn't going to let you learn, in fact sometimes it will just frustrate you into thinking your camera isn't as good as your friend's camera because her pictures come out way better. Perhaps, or perhaps you just aren't using your camera to its fullest capacity. Here are the points we went over this weekend together, and what mom learned... 1)The basic settings: Use the dial and alternate settings (under "menu" or "function") as your primary tools: a) the face is for portraits (usually focusing on just the image in front of you, blurring out the background) b...

Today we're on our way to Miami for the No Barriers Festival and it reminded me to share the many travel ideas we've gathered along the way! Our travels take us far and wide, and some of these ideas make us feel like we're not that far from home. 1. Lists. If you're an organizer, think about making "packing lists" based on the type of trip (we have business, vacation, and camping lists). We were forever scribbling on Post-Its before our trips and forgetting something every time, when I finally realized I could write a master list that we could add to any time and save sheet after sheet of yellow sticky paper. To take it one green step further, print out the lists and laminate them, then cross off what you've packed with a grease pencil and clean it off when you're done! Make one for every family member so they're in charge of their own belongings and forgotten items! 2. Drier Sheets. My favorite trick for the suitcase and keeping clothes fresh, ...

Some people aren't planning honeymoons any more... and this year is probably the best example of that. So how can you make the break happen while keeping it in the budget? The easiest is asking for much of it in gifts, because those are inevitable, look into the many creative options you gave give your guests in lieu of placemats, glassware, and picture frames. If you've loaded a wedding website for your guests, include some of these ideas on the "gifts" page or in the literature you mail out, so they know in advance that you'd like to trade gifts in for honeymoon help! 1. Condo, cabin, or RV usage ~ ask for the gifted usage of a lake house, RV, RCI membership week, or employee family discount to help offset the costs of lodging during your stay. 2. Airfare points ~ many of these programs will expire unused airline points, so using them will actually benefit both parties. 3. Activities, dining, etc ~ put a few activities at your honeymoon destination that will e...

We travel a LOT. And I come up with a lot of quick and easy ideas for traveling when we do! So I'm starting a Travel Solution series that I'll dip in and out of on this blog for you, let's get rolling with number 1! The Baggage Claim Tags as Lint Roller! This idea came to me when we were in New York last year. I had a lot of fuzz on one of my suits and forgot bring our travel lint roller. I began looking around the room for something with tape on it, because I remembered as a makeshift roller in college, we would roll masking tape on our hands and use that to get cat hairs, lint, and fuzz off our clothes before going out. Then I saw the baggage tags on the suitcase. I was sold on this idea immediately. I peeled the two sides apart and started sticking it to my suit and voila! It worked- not only did it work, the glue on these is so strong, it actually pulls those sweater-pull balls off your knitted items as well! My husband said I should submit this to Real Simple Magaz...