I started to get a little nostalgic today; the temperature dropped to real fall weather! I am wearing socks & a sweatshirt and I am loving it!  The crisp scent in the air always reminds me a few of my favorite things from growing up in Michigan – and today,  the memory of apple orchards is one of the events that spiked my love & appreciation of the world around us:

Picking your own Apples!

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to locate an apple orchard in Orlando (or Florida for that matter) so I have to pick ‘em from the Farmer’s Market – but almost every other state can partake in this awesome activity!  Imagine, rows & rows of apple trees, your own straw basket, a hot mug of apple cider, & maybe a cinnamon donut for a treat (as if fresh grown apples weren’t enough) You might even get lucky enough to take a hay ride on a horse-drawn wagon!  *sigh of jealousy*

 If you do have the chance to go to the orchard this season – send me pictures!  and ask the folks there what kind of environmental practices do they keep in order to make their crops tasty and not take away from the earth. 

Some things to consider when choosing your afternoon of apples:   

• How are you getting there?  Carpool if you can & pack it in with as many people as there are seatbelts to lower your impact.
• Where are you going?  Consider an Organic Apple Orchard if you can – and a local one at that to support your own growing community!
• How does the farm promote soil health?  Perhaps they create their own special organic compost blend.  
• How does the farm conduct tree disease management?  Organic farmers will use a natural approach to their tree farms by creating a forest like haven that apples trees would naturally grown in.

What are you going to do with all those delicious apples?

Here is one of my fave recipes for your bushel of delish:

Butternut Squash Ravioli w. Apple/Walnut dressing 

Cook your ravioli as normal – stovetop water boil style. I like using Butternut Squash ravioli because it tastes like cheese, but minus the extra calories – however, cheese ravioli is tasty as well - so do what you like! 

In the meantime, heat up a little olive oil in a saute pan & toast up your walnuts (or mixed nuts, whatever you have on hand) approximately one handful.

Just before they are done fully toasting, add some thinly sliced, hard variety of apple.  One apple will usually do it, but this is a great recipe to make for a large group as well, so figure as needed.  I like to use Red Delicious for this recipe, but any will work as long as they stay firm.  Also add a half of a handful of finely choppeed Italian parsely leaves.

Stir this all around just enough until the oil coats it all and it has had a chance to blend the flavors -approximately 2 minutes.

Toss this delish dressing with your raviolis & ENJOY!!! mmmm.

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Today is the 50th Anniversary of the Flintstones!

Happy Anniversary Fred, Wilma, Barney & Betty – and of course the kids, pets, and all the prehistoric neighbors we know & love.

I used to love watching the Flintstones on Saturday mornings when I stayed over at my Grandma & Bumpa’s house – Fred always got so mad, Barney was always trying some new scheme, and Betty & Wilma were making a fashion statement from practically nothing.

What I also loved about this show was the creative way the families made modern day conveniences without impacting their environment.  Consider the running-man car, as powerful as a big mans thighs could carry him, they love animals & pets of all kinds, and they believe in healthy living – remember Flinstone vitamins?

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I hadn’t ever thought of this before, but does the Earth want us to conserve? compost? recycle?  Have I been butting my nose where it isn’t wanted?

According to Robert Laughlin, and featured in an article in Newsweek, (Newsweek, 9.12.10 by George Will) the Earth just may not care if we meddle.  Laughlin shares the idea that the geological timeframe of the Earth will happen regardless of what we do in the meantime. He argues that ‘Climate change over geologic time is, Laughlin says, something the earth has done “on its own without asking anyone’s permission or explaining itself.” People can cause climate change, but major glacial episodes have occurred “at regular intervals of 100,000 years,” always “a slow, steady cooling followed by abrupt warming back to conditions similar to today’s.”’ 

I must say, I see his point – and since he is a Nobel Prize winner in Physics, he has some ground to stand on.  Even so, I still think it is in the interest of human nature that we embrace conservation and show a respect for where we live. 

What are your thoughts?  Leave us a comment, a tweet, or an email.

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It is time again for another GeoQuiz question!

The stability of the climate is related to the concentration of greenhouse gases.

True or False.

Leave a comment, email, or tweet with your best guess, I will post the answer on GTB’s blog carnival and on Twitter tomorrow!

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I am in the market for a new car.  Don’t worry, my existing car is going to a good cause -  my sister. 

I have a couple of options to consider for my car buying adventure:

1.  Buy something gently used - this option will  use one of the many excessive vehicles that are currently out there – recycling so to say…

2. Buy a hybrid.  While this option doesn’t take some of the excess inventory off the lots, going forward my gas emissions would be lessened while I am on the road.

You can see my dilemma, quite the catch-22.  What would you do? Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

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Ahhh, it is July. 

The stores are overflowing with goods for back to school and items to adorn a college room.  I gotta say, I am pretty jealous too – I never had this cute of gear when I went to school.

A lot of high school seniors are coming to the reality that they are really close to freedom – so where will the eco-friendly minded brainiacs choose to go this fall should their SAT scores (and tuition budget) allow?

The four years a person spends in college can be a very defining time for the way they will live the rest of their lives.  Creating strong practices directly when they are set free from the parental nest is essential, so why not focus on a sustainable way of life.

Info provided by  The College Sustainability Report Card to evaluate the most important elements to look for when looking for a like-minded educational facility with a focus on green.

Did you know:

• That nearly 2 out of 3 schools evaluated on the report card (a total of over 300) have a community garden or farm on campus?!  What a great way to meet a new friend, or lunch and avoid the “Freshman 15″ or in my case the “Freshman 35″!
• Nearly 1/2 compost food waste. Man, do I remember the food waste from the on-campus meal plan.  Gross me out the door, THANK GOODNESS someone can convert that stuff!
• More than 90% of schools are getting the word of sustainable practices out through a website dedicated to the cause.  You can’t be successful if you can’t spread the wealth.

Here are some of my favorite categories that were evaluated, and the top-contending school in each:

Food & Recycling.

Survey says, Arizona State University.

ASU has contracted their food services from 50 different local growers, is completely trayless in their dining room, us the on-campus farm for various produce options and has an on-campus restaurant to represent these practices even more!

Green Building. 

While there were several great schools listed in this category, including ASU that was mentioned above;  I have to give it to Grand Valley State University for my friends back in Michigan. 

This university features 8 LEED certified buildings, another 6 on the way, and a committment to all new construction and renovation to meet these environmentally friendly standards (the buildings look pretty cool too).  If that weren’t enough, 80% of all construction waste is recycled to bring the circle full stop.

Student Involvement.

Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania takes the highlighting here: The BMC Greens group has implemented several programs to spread the word for students to practice sustainability.  The effort has been pretty successful according to the proven results.

This group has successfully implemented the Energy Diet where students compete to conserve energy – resulting in an overall savings of 2.5% of the college’s electric bill for the month! But that isn’t all, the group has also helped eliminated bottled water from departmental budgets, and convinced the school to install motion sensor lighting.

Education with more education.

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I got a pretty gnarly kink in my neck today.  The only position I can sit comfortably in puts me in front of the t.v. so I chose something educational to watch.  The Travel Channel  was showing some extreme living desitnations, and amongst them was Greater World  outside of Taos, New Mexico.

Greater World is a community where the homes are built entirely out of recyclable materials and uses sustainable utilities.  Retaining walls are made out of old tires, siding is made out of used beer bottles, it is really unbelievable. Each of these homes is called an Earthship, besides the fabulous name, it is a fabulous concept.   All energy comes from the sun, wind, and earth for electricity, heating & cooling purposes.  Water is filtered from the rain. 

Besides being a completely sustainable home, that leaves no imprint on the Earth – it is super cute. Beer bottles provide a stained glass effect, clay building creates beautifuly architechural arches, and floor to ceiling windows provides a very open environoment with a lot of light. 

Another great feature is that these Earthships  can be built in any climate, anywhere!  In fact, a group of people brought this method to Haiti to assist in the earthquake disaster relief.  What is so cool, is that they aren’t building a temporary shelter for the meantime, Earthships is building a permanent home for these people and a simple, sustainable, building technique that they can continue to use as they rebuild their community.

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Summer is here, in full swing. 

There has been a lot of talk about the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, which hasn’t brought much positivity to the beach scene this season, but Rapanui Clothing may just have something to hang-ten about.

This is a company based out of the U.K. that practices sustainability  for the entire life cycle of surf clothing.  They feature organic fabrics, employ fair trade labor, and use renewable energy to power their machines.  The company was started by  brothers Rob & Mart Drake-Knight with the philosophy that making something that would be trendy and environmentally friendly would help it catch on – thus Rapanui Clothing was born.  The brothers must be doing something right, they were  listed to the Future 100 List of Top Young Ethical Entreprenuers in 2008.

What I love about their site is that you can click on an article of clothing you are interested in, then see how it is made.  Simply click on the link and a map will appear to show you the direct path it takes from creation in a fair trade fabric factory to the transportation route, including the amount of carbon used on its travel all the way to the Rapanui store.  NEAT-O!

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You think you have reached the brink of greendom, you have mastered the art of recycling – I hate to burst your bubble, but here are three things that you may think are green when in fact they are not. Don’t feel bad if you are guilty of any of these practices, shoot, I already know I violate at least two, this post is just to help us further open our minds to sustainability. 

Recycling

You may be sitting there right now thinking ‘ why in the world would I say that recycling isn’t green?!  ‘ Or you just re-read the title. did ya?  

Well, think of this – some people use recycling as an option to not reduce their currently un-green practices.  For example, do you know someone who picks up 24- 12oz water bottles on each grocery trip and put their finished bottles directly in the recycle bin upon completion?  This is a perfect display of using recycling as a scapegoat.  This person could very easily purchase gallons of water at a time & have them refilled at the grocery store or install a filter to their sink to avoid the recycle bin altogether. 

Same goes for beer bottles – consider purchasing a mini keg of your favorite brew instead of a six-pack, or visit a local brewery to pick up a growler (glass jug with a screw on lid with a plug), which is equivalent to a half gallon.  Some breweries offer a liter or quart size as well.

Reusable bags

Reusable bags have been one of my favorite things to promote here on GTB.  I love them, but then again, I am a little bit of a bag lady.   In my experience, a grocery store bagger will use 5 plastic bags to each reusable bag you bring to the store.  Say you usually go home with 5 reusable bags full of groceries – this means you saved 25 plastic bags!  A very green feat. 

So, what makes reusable bags unenvironmentally friendly?  Like I said, I typically walk away from an average grocery trip with 5 full reusable bags – I own at least 20 resuable bags.  This is 4 times beyond my necessary use.  

Excessive, yes.  My point – exactly. 

Just because reusable bags save plastic bags, there is no reason to have a huge, excessive collection beyond necessary use.  The good news is that there are still plenty of people who do not use reusable bags at the store -so carry one of your collection with you & pay it forward to someone in need   Ah, the gift that keeps on giving!

Hybrid cars

Hybrid cars are awesome.  I am a full supporter of finding a way to cut down on our natural resource use for transportation purposes.  However, I also believe that the auto industry over manufactues cars to a point of waste, and people get new cars at an unbelievable rate.  For every hybrid car made, there are several used cars out there.

Besides the waste of extra manufactured cars – people are driving too much.  Hybrid cars provide consumers an excuse to drive further and use more resources, whatever they may be, just because they burn at a slower rate.  Consider cutting your mobility by using a bike once or twice a week on leisure trips, or get a carpool started at your work.

Alright, I may have laid it on thick – but you know I have a point.  For your next green venture, consider it from all sides if it is in fact a sustainable event.

Have another idea that is green, but not – leave us a comment, tweet us @greenthinking, or email us at greenthinkinggtb@gmail.com.  We would love to hear what you have to say!

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Have you ever felt like you were almost at a stopping point in your life?  Like your days just melt together and then you wake up to realize you are another year older?  I hope you haven’t had this feeling, but most of us have at one point or another – it like adult growing pains.

I recently had this experience, and it occurred to me that I just may need to do something a little radical to break the spell.  What I chose to do was an all-natural detox, this was the Spring Slim Down Detox, courtesy of Laurel from GTB’s favorite blog: Laurel On Health Food. 

It totally worked…in every aspect I was looking for.  By providing myself with the 7 day challenge to eat completely different than my normal diet I proved to myself that I have the power to make a difference.  In the instance of an all-natural detox, the outcome provided benefits to myself:

• Weight loss
• Mental Clarity
• Clearer skin
• Improved attitude (also a benefit to my friends & family)
• Some new breakfast & lunch options to continue with…

Last night I watched No Impact Man, a documentary about a family who decided to challenge themselves to create zero impact on our world for a year!  That is 365 days people, my challenge was one person, benefiting one person, for 7 days.  The Beavan Family was challenging three people, benefiting thousands if not millions, for 365 days.  They win. Hands down.

Colin Beavan created this challenge as a way to create awareness.  Granted, they went to the extreme by eliminating all forms of carbon producing transportation, including elevators, as well as eliminating dispoable toilet paper from their daily use (it really does affect our tree population), and all forms of electricity – which eventually converted to the use of a solar panel, but this family grew closer and changed their way of thinking during this experiment. 

 That is my favorite part.  Through living this way, by not adding any waste & contributing to the good in the world, they impacted so many people and probably had at least 100 people who saw their media coverage commit to making a change they could live with to help our environment – so, in my opinion, No Impact Man should have been called:  Impact Thousands of People -Man!

My other favorite part is that they discovered it wasn’t easy, but that they enjoyed their time along the way.  People gave the family some pretty tough critiques, but I think that is only because those with the criticism hadn’t had their minds open yet to the importance of the experiment.

Sure, it was radical, but in the end, the family decided on a few key things they could commit to doing on a regular basis, and it will make a change to our Earth.  It will. Seems to me they have the GTB philosophy down to a pat, just making the efforts to get their arms around the tree.

I would strongly recommend you consider giving yourself an eco-conscious challenge for the summer.  Consider biking to the farmer’s market each week or volunteering  with your favorite non-profit.  Maybe even just carrying a reusable bag is something that will work for your life, but see what you can do within your limits to help contribute to the preservation of our world.  Get those arms around the tree.

P.S.  They did take toilet paper back into their lives.

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