While at home this evening, I perused a book called A Little Green Book of Environmental Quotes and Comments. Here is what I found:
A quote by Arch Buchwald, an author, stated in 1970. How did he know what would happen back then? (p. 89)
And Man created the plastic bag and tin and aluminum can and the cellophane wrapper and the paper plate, and this was good because Man could then take his automobile and buy all his food in one place and He could save that which was good to eat in the refrigerator and throw away what had no further use. And soon the earth was covered with plastic bags and aluminum cans and paper plates and disposable bottles and there was nowhere to sit down or walk, and Man shook his head and cried: “Look at this Godawful mess.”
I also found a great lesson for us all. Joseph Wood Krutch, a writer, was quoted in Time (p 97):
Don’t blow it - good planets are hard to find.
And Jacques Barzun, a historian, gives us hope from The House of Intellect in 1959 (p 87):
If civilization has risen from the Stone Age, it can rise again from the Wastepaper Age.
I believe Jacques also means we can rise from the Oil Age, the High Consumption Age, the Wasteful Age, the Ungrateful Age, we just need to try.
Last night I was trying to perform some simple arithmatic to figure out the cost per person from a trip I was just on. Simple is the word to look at - it may have been simple when I was in 5th grade, but not now! In fact, I couldn’t even remember how to begin a long division problem let alone come up with a wrong answer. This got me thinking…
We are all very aware that keeping our body healthy is a imporant for our well being, and in turn, the world. What we put into our system, whether or not we exercise, where we buy our food, all affects the world in which we live…but what about our brains?! That affects the world too!
WebMD says that physical exercise is good for your brain as well. Exercise will release happy feelings, aka dopamine that will help your mood, alertness, and feelings of well-being.
ProHealth recommends Neurobics, a form of working the brain that helps it rewire itself. According to the article, to be a neurobic exercise, it must involve one or more senses in a novel way, engage your attention, and add an unexpected element to a routine activity. Here are some of the tips they give:
Smell something different in the morning than your routine coffee. Try vanilla or peppermint for a change. I think I will smell my new Sage Citrus Soy candle…mmmm
Use a different hand for your morning routine. If you are right handed, brush your teeth, brush your hair, and eat breakfast with your left hand. Lefties, do the opposite.
Learn Braille to determine your floor on the elevator.
Challenge: Try these exercises at home!
2nd Challenge (mostly for Kate): Relearn long division! Check out FreeMathWorksheets.net to create your own challenge, or enhance your skills.
You might remember one of our first posts on Green Thinking Blog was about a wonderful eco t-shirt company called Tees for Change (see Tees for Change are Lovely). To make way for their new Fall 2008 line, they have put six of the women’s organic t-shirts on sale for $20 each and all jewelry on sale for 25% off.
Tees for Change shirts are made from organic cotton or bamboo and each t-shirt sale plants a tree. Fabulous! Act quickly if you want a shirt on-sale, because they’re sure to sell out fast.
Click here to get to the shirts on sale. Click here to get to the on-sale jewelry. The sale ends August 31, 2008.
I read an interesting article in the July 2008 issue of Publix Greenwise Market magazine. Apparently, one of the best ways to create a clean, non-toxic air environment in your home is to bring some plants inside. NASA has been using this trick since the 1980s when it completed some research on using plants to clean air in space capsules. It worked, and the research found that plants help metabolize chemicals by using them for food and energy.
A lead scientist on the NASA study, Bill Woverton, Ph.D., says bringing plants indoors is even more important today because “houses are more tightly sealed than in the past and contain a higher percentage of synthetic materials and products versus natural products.” The synthetic materials actually emit chemicals into our air indoors. Other recent studies confirmed plants can help reduce the level of pollens, dust, and allergens and keep humidity at a healthy range. Even more studies found that houseplants help reduce systolic blood pressure, increase productivity, decrease pain, and improve healing after illness or surgery. Simply amazing!
The GreenWise article said any kind of plant is fine to bring inside, just pick what fits you and your lifestyle. My tip is to figure out where you want to put the plants before you hit the store. This way you’ll know what to look for on the labels. Does the plant thrive in bright sunlight, partial sunlight, or low light? Here are a few suggestions from the article with a little help about how to take care of each:
Ivy - Grows best in bright light, but avoid direct sun. Two-tone ivy likes more light than all-green ivy. Allow soil to dry before each watering.
Calathea - Enjoys moderate light (put near a window facing east or north). Direct sunlight can burn up the leaves. Keep soil moist and mist the plant to provide a very humid environment.
Fern - Likes low light and does well in a window facing north. Too much light will do damage. Mist the plant often. Allow soil to slightly dry before each watering.
Croton - Keep in a warm place with good light, but not in direct sun. The light will help the leaves maintain their pretty range of colors. Allow soil to slightly dry before each watering.
Anthurium - Likes bright light. Mist the plant often to provide high humidity. Allow soil to dry before each watering.
Fittonia - Enjoys low light and windows facing north. Mist often to maintain high humidity.
What else can you do to ensure your air at home is healthy? Use less cleaning chemicals and bug sprays, keep it well ventilated, and check that your humidity is beweeen 30% and 50%.
Hmm…I wonder what kind of plants this house has inside? The outside is completely covered!
It seems to me that “Green Cuisine” is the newest trend to the diet world. But it shouldn’t be just a trend. I first heard the term while in the frozen foods section. I purchased a delicious version of General Tso Shrimp-a complete kit-with a sign stating it was: GREEN CUISINE. So, turned it over, and took note of the company’s web address.
Contessa Premium Foods’ home page actually has a link called Green Initiatives. To click it shows a company with their values in order - at least from what I can tell…This company boasts the first environmentally LEED-certified frozen-food manufacturing plant in the world! What does this mean? It means that the food manufactured in this plant is completely carbon neutral & made no foot prints on our Mother Earth in its creation. They practice aquaculture and are 100% turtle safe. The company supports wildlife efforts, including sea-turtle conservation projects. (check out saving a turtle) Not only that, the company uses recyclable materials & practices recycling in their operations.
I went a little further & Googled Green Cuisine only to find a plethora of links come up!
Imagine my surprise when I ran across an article by the Union of Concerned Scientists that featured my favorite restaurant in my home town - Food Dance Cafe in Kalamazoo, MI! (Yes, there really is a Kalamazoo.) Food Dance Cafe & other restaurants have begun to feature locally grown products year-round. Its fresh & supports community. What could be greener?
The term also refers to the practice of growing your own Microgreens, or in simple terms, things like arugala, cress, snow peas, herbs, and edible flowers…
With a focus on health, look for more health-conscious ideas and information on your cuisine at Laurel on Health Food.
Ah & MMM, what a great term: GREEN CUISINE. If only Green Eggs & Ham could taste this good….
Yes, I really meant a Compost Potty vs. Compost Party. While a Compost Party could be a great time, and a long party, this particular post is to send kudos to those Denverites in the great state of Colorado. I recently headed west from the humid climate of Florida to my happy place, the mountains of Denver.
While avoiding bears and hiking trails, the call of nature reached my bladder & to my happiness, I found the image you see to your left.
This may look like an ordinary outhouse - but oh the amenities.
Toilet paper, feminine waste bag, clean, and instructions (for some at eye level). Instructions are necessary when making waste in the woods and mountains. For a closer look, see the image below.
It reads:
You are using a recycling toilet by Clivus
This toilet uses no water or chemicals.
Waste is being composted in the equipment below this building.
Do not throw cigarettes, plastics, bottles, or cans into this recycling toilet.
Thank you for helping us preserve the environment.
For states and nature trails and Clivus that have already adopted this technology for public use, we commend you. This outhouse has provided a haven for my digestive system in the middle of the Lair o’ a Bear, and assisted my friend Mother Earth.
My best pal Lauren from Dallas, TX just purchased her first house. She wanted to check out her options for renewable energy and found the Power to Choose website from Texas Electric Choice. The site teaches you about making an informed decision when you choose the best electric provider for you. After doing her research, Lauren decided to go with Gexa Energy, a “dynamic retail electricity provider based in Houston” that offers a “100% wind-powered, 100% pollution-free energy option.”
If you live outside of Texas, you can visit the U.S. DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy page to see if there is green power available in your area. The State-Specific Utility Green Pricing Programs table shows utilities in specific areas, their green program, the type of green energy they use, and how much you’ll pay for it. If you don’t see your current electric company on the list, visit your company’s website and see if they’re doing anything to move towards renewable or alternative energy.
If your local provider doesn’t offer any green power, you can purchase green energy certificates such as green tags or tradable renewable certificates (TRCs). TRCs allow you to “buy green power anywhere, regardless of whether or not your utility or supplier offers green power.” Try Green-e or choose from this huge list of renewable energy certificate marketers.
I just had to share this video. Please take the 7 minutes and 17 seconds to watch - it is an inspiration to see what someone can do from waste. A HUGE THANK YOU! to Brittney for sharing her link on videos about recycled bags.
I bought a new cell phone today, and it made me think about what I’ll do with my old phone. Luckily, my phone provider sends a mail-in recycling envelope with any new phone, so I’m all set there. But, what do we do with all our junk electronic equipment?
The first thing you should do is figure out if it’s worth giving it away or selling at a discount to someone else on Freecycle, Ebay, or Craigslist. The National Cristina Foundation accepts computer equipment as donations for local non-profit organizations and schools. If you’re giving away a computer, don’t forget to reformat your hard drive or destroy it before giving it to someone you don’t know. If you’ve got an old cell phone, try Cell for Cash and see if you can get some money for it. If they won’t buy it, you can at least get a free shipping label to mail it in for recycling.
If your junk equipment is not worth donating or selling and you just need to get rid of it, I found some great tips to help you out. We have to avoid throwing electronics in the trash because they can contain toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, and flame retardants which, if crushed or burned, can become toxic to our environment. In many states it is actually against the law to throw electronic equipment in the trash. So take care and look into these options:
EPA’s Plug-In to eCycling - This page offers a ton of information on where to recycle old equipment including local programs, manufacturers and retailers, and government-supported programs.
Basel Action Network (BAN) - This site lists companies that have signed the Electronic Recycler’s Pledge of True Stewardship which is a promise not to dump electronic equipment overseas. The recyclers have also agreed to allow BAN to check up on their recycling practices and vendors. MSNBC said Best Buy, Motorola, Staples, Sony, Dell, and Waste Management all say their collected equipment is never shipped overseas.
Check with your city to see if they have a hazardous waste recycling day. Find out when it is and encourage your friends and family to take the trip with you.
EcoGeek says TechForward is a great place to sell back your equipment at a pre-determined price.
These are only a few ideas, and I’m sure there are tons out there. Hit us up with a comment if you have an electronic recycling idea or experience to share.
The topic of reusable bags was briefly touched upon in a previous entry. I had made a careless depiction that plastic grocery bags could be used for picking up your dogs’ poop, as many communities require you clean up after your dog, as a secondary usage from toting your groceries.
As an amateur earth-good-doer, I failed to think fully through about what would happen to that bag of poo after you tossed it in the trash. A reader was kind enough to share that if we don’t pay attention to where we toss the poo, Fido’s deed could be preserved for eternities to come.
Leashwecando.com is a website and online catalog dedicated to your pet’s health and our environment. Their current feature is on biodegradable doggie doodoo bags. Biobags are the first dog waste bag that are 100% biodegradable and compostable. The bags, made from agricultural products, will decompose in any environment in no more than 8 months! In a compost environment that bag-o-dirty will decompose in as little as 10-45 days! Whoop Whoop!
Check out Leashwecando.com for more pet-friendly and environmentally conscious products.
