Green Thinking Blog

Last night I was flipping through my first issue of Plenty Magazine (I mentioned it in my 4th of July post), and I saw an ad for World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD). Naturally, I had to find out more details. According to their colorful website, WWMD “is an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies.” WWMD is coordinated by the Water Environment Federation and the International Water Association.

On September 18th through October 18th, people all around the world take the initiative to test their local water bodies for quality factors such as temperature, acidity, clarity, and dissolved oxygen. One they get their results, the information is shared on the WWMD website.

So, how do you test the water? Well the easiest way is to buy one of the test kits offered for $13.00 (plus $7.20 U.S. shipping). You can order online or by phone with a credit card. The test kits can be used for a group of 5-10 people so you and your friends or family can split the cost.

What kind of water can you test? The test kits are designed for fresh water locations including bays, canals, creeks, ditches, drains, estuaries, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, oceans, rivers, springs, straights, streams, and wetlands. Wow, is anyone else amazed at all the different names of fresh water bodies?!

To get started, you can visit the Participate page on the website and follow the four easy steps:

1. Register your site.
2. Prepare your monitoring equipment.
3. Monitor your site.
4. Report your data.

If you’re like me, you’re wondering if using the test kit is hard. The WWMD site stresses that the test kit is easy for children and adults to use, so that’s a good sign. Visit the website and you’ll see smiling young faces that let us know that we can handle the job.

The data collected from 2005, 2006, and 2007 is also available for your review. Last year 46,000 people in 43 countries participated.

Lake Parón, Caraz, Peru

This last weekend took me to Ft. Lauderdale beach in sunny Florida. As I walked along the sandy shore I was stuck by a strange mound in the sand surrounded by construction tape.  Upon further observation, I discovered this mound was in fact an onshore incubator for sea turtles.  I said to myself, “Self, You have got to look into this further once you return home & get the scoop on these turtles.”  So. I did.

From what I have found out, in large part to Turtle Time, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to loggerhead sea turtles, is that from May until August every year these amazing creatures come ashore to lay their eggs.  The mama will dig a nest in the sand, usually about 18-22 inches deep and lay her eggs for a period of roughly two months.  When the little babies are born they are only 2 inches big and will eventually grow to be 250-400 pounds! 

So that is the easy part:  Get it on, lay some eggs, return to the sea.

The hard part comes when the babies hatch.  Sometimes they get confused with hotel lights, street lamps, car headlights, and instead of wandering off to sea and their destiny, they wander into the road and under your car tire. 

I saw signs all over the beach in Ft. Lauderdale warning tourists of the dimmed lights on streets and buildings to give the hatchlings every chance they have at surviving, and I truly thought it to be a great effort amongst the community to come together to help this endangered species. 

Tips from Turtle Time, Inc. about things you can do to help the turtles while you are on the beach:

• Do NOT shine lights on a nesting turtle! 
• Please don’t litter.  Plastic bags, balloons, soda can holders, etc. can be fatal if eaten by a turtle - or any animal for that matter.
• Close drapes or blinds after dark if your lights are visible to the beach, while this helps the turtles, this can help you too!  Create a little mood for yourself and a loved one, who knew turtles could be so romantic.

Another great resource:  Guided Turtle Walks.  While on vacation take in a little culture.  Many museums, aquariums, and community centers provide guided walks on the beach in hopes of witnessing this miracle of the sea turtle.  Ususally taking place between the hours of 9 pm - 1 am, but remember, do not bring your flashlights, and do not disturb the turtle - how would you like your business disturbed?

The Fourth of July took us to a little place called Pensacola Beach, a completely beautiful land that promoted healthy bike rides, some vitamin C to the skin (protected by UVB & UVA sunscreen), some entertainment, and an awesome fresh fish market. The short time we were there we were fortunate enough to partake in each of these activities while celebrating the birth of our country’s freedom.

Little did I expect, silly me, that I might take an adventure that was completely spontaneous, a downright accident actually, that would lead me to a mystery. This mystery I speak of is still unsolved, and if you should have any information, please please please contact us immediately!

Our last day in Pensacola Beach our host suggested we take a bike ride to visit Fort Pickens to gain some history on our vacation. We agreed to go, thinking it might take us all of an hour to tour and then get on the ride home. So, we ride and ride, what a beautiful ride! Sugar sand beaches, clear blue green seas, fresh air in our hair and faces, and we didn’t even recognize how long we had been riding until the Fort never seemed to come. We turned around and could no longer see civilization. To make a long story short, we took a 4 hour cruise, a dip in the Gulf, a walk through 2 miles of sand pushing our bikes where the road had been washed away, introduce ourselves to Tropical Storm Bertha (she was relatively friendly considering she only threw sand in our faces and refused to rain on us) and we came across this:

Please notice the four solar panels on the roof. This house is an old Campers’ Registration/Visitor Center for when the Fort was up and running regularly before Hurricane Ivan came over in 2004. The solar panels seem to be running a set of fans that are under the awning, but I couldn’t be too sure.

So, I’ve checked with the Gulf Islands National Seashore, I’ve checked with Pensacola’s Greatest, and Google to no avail. My curiosity has been piqued as to the history behind this house, those solar panels, and what future reconstruction could bring to Fort Pickens on the Gulf Beaches of Florida.

If you have any insight to this mystery, please please please contact us!

Until then…Happy Trails!

Yeah that’s right…I can’t get that Britney Spears song out of my head! Today, I’ve got toxins on the brain. One of the things I’m learning in my green thinking and nutritional studies is that we are flooded with toxins on a daily basis. Take a minute and think about how many unnatural things are entering your body, through your mouth or skin, on the regular. Are you eating lots of pre-packaged foods? Do you work in a “sick” building? Is the air in your city heavily polluted? Do most of your beauty products contain a lot of chemicals? Do you eat non-organic meat and dairy products? Do you consume a lot of artificial sugar?

If you answered yes to most of these, you are probably pretty toxic. But, the truth is that it’s incredibly hard to avoid a lot of this stuff considering how busy our lives are in 2008. So what can you do? Well, there’s not much you can do about a sick work building, but you can try to be more aware of the toxins around you and make the switch to natural and organic products when you can. It’s good for you and for Mother Nature.

If you’re up for a little self-pampering, try this four-step, at-home natural purification process that I found in The Body Shop’s Spa book. It’s really relaxing too!

Step 1: Sea Salt Scrub

Take a 3-5 minute hot shower to open your pores and improve your body’s circulation. Turn the water off, and then exfoliate your skin (everywhere except your face) with a sea salt scrub in circular motions (see below for my homemade salt scrub recipe!). Rinse with warm water (no soap) and then towel dry.

Step 2: Seaweed Mask

Mix seaweed powder with hot water to create a paste (you can find seaweed powder at health food stores or buy it cheap online). Thinly slather the paste all over your skin including your feet (avoid the face). Let the paste begin to dry while you prepare the next step.

Step 3: Body Wrap

Spread out two heavy blankets on a bed and lay a sheet on top of the blankets. You can spray the sheets with a lavender aromatherapy spray if you want, or just leave the sheets dry. Lay on top of the sheets and wrap the blankets around you (snugly). Rest or take a snooze for a half hour. Then rinse off in a hot shower and use your hands to help rub off the paste.

Step 4: Drink Water

Drinks lots of water throughout the rest of the day to help your body flush out impurities.

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Laurel’s Homemade Salt Scrub

• 1 ½ cups coarse sea salt
• ½ cup almond or grape seed oil
• 5-10 drops of essential oils

Take out a medium to large bowl. Put in three cups of coarse sea salt. Add one cup of almond or grape seed oil to the salt. Mix until blended. Add 5-10 drops of essential oils for fragrance (or as much as you want). You can choose whatever scent you want, but some of my favorites are peach, lavender, and grapefruit.

Here’s a little video of me making the homemade salt scrub. I tried to set it up the best I could, but I think I’ll have Miss Kate film me next time so I can get better angles. Well, enjoy it friends and I hope you take some time out to pamper yourself!

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A week into summer, I am all the wiser for what activities can be done that won’t contribute to the destruction of the world, but may actually enhance it.

I have listed some activities below that may give you some exercise and are sure to give you enjoyment.  Please, we are encouraging you to try these at home!

1.  Bike ride!  Whether you have a destination like your favorite neighborhood hang-out,  are just roaming to check out the architechtural beauty of your neighbors’ homes, or trekking down a trail, a bike ride is an excellent activity.  You are working-out, you don’t know it, and you aren’t putting polluntants in the air by taking an afternoon drive to see the scenery.

Here is a picture of my pride & joy:

This gift has made me very aware of safety features that bikes come with and their importance.  Please notice, a pedal-powered generator on the back wheel illuminates the front headlight, so I am not riding in the dark.  I have ample space in my basket and on my back rack to carry bags, freeing extra weight from my back.  A built in tire pump on the rack is there for emergency situations of a flat tire. It’s most unique feature, as you may have guessed, is the lowered bar that allows to me ride in a skirt/dress without as much risk of it getting entangled in my chain…  Enough about that :)  But, please wear reflective clothing and follow street signs accordingly: Safety first.

2.  Kayak/Canoe. Pick up trash as you go.  Orlando has an excellent non-profit organization called ECO-Action that sponsors weekly canoe clean-ups.  They have recently completed their 500th clean up! Whoo Hoo! This promotes a pride in your lakes and waterways, camaraderie, and of course - a great arm work-out!  Do some research to see if one of these organizations is in your area, or create your own and tell us about it.

3.  Visit your local botanical garden.  Laurel and I are lucky we have one in our backyard.  This is a great date spot *wink *wink, and the first Friday of the month, they feature a movie under the stars.  Again, an inexpensive afternoon or evening that supports the preservation of b-e-a-utiful flowers, plants, and insects, and could get anyone to appreciate what we have in this world.

4. Volunteer.  Whether it be at a nursing home, an animal shelter, your neighbor’s garden - wherever!  Just do it.  You are making someone, something, anything feel better, and trust - it will come back to you 10x over.  To make this tip associate with the summer:  Bring that person some lemonade to enjoy while you play checkers on the porch.  Take that puppy to a dog park to enjoy the beautiful day too and make new friends.  Plant a tomato plant for that neighbor to promote sustainable living.

5. Take a Pickinic aka Picnic lunch.  Not just any picnic.  First, you must visit your local organic grocer/farmers’ market/co-op for the freshest, mostest bestest choices of cuisine that support your community. Check out some recipes at ChefMD or Epicurious to be conscious of what you putting into your bod.  Done.  Second, you must pick the location.  While your backyard is a perfectly acceptable choice, try to get a little more creative.  Maybe placing that lunch in your bike basket and taking it to #2,  #3, or #4.