Written on
October 21, 2009 by
Amber
I love to shop at my local farmer’s market. I am very lucky to have a great local market with both summer and winter seasons, and a wide variety of vendors. I have been visiting it regularly for the past 6 years and in that time I have become a die-hard fan.
There are a lot of things to love about the farmer’s market. When I shop there I feel as if I know where my food is coming from. I can meet the people who produced it, ask them questions, and even get cooking tips. They are my neighbors, and they take their work seriously.
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Written on
October 20, 2009 by
SusanC
When I was little my parents didn’t buy Halloween costumes, we created them; it was so fun. Believe it or not, it wasn’t until I became a mother that I realized the overwhelming choices in commercialized costumes and decorations.
Driving through semi-rural, semi-suburban southern Rhode Island, I have noticed the abundance of gorgeously colored fallen leaves contrasted with plastic Halloween decorations. I have been in the checkout line at the discount store where many are purchasing stringy, plastic, scarecrows that will undoubtedly end up in a landfill in three weeks, if not torn apart and carried away by the wind.
I like a homemade Halloween; in second grade I was a tree.
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Written on
October 16, 2009 by
DianaP
We’re a fairly gender-neutral family. If the laundry needs folding, someone folds it; if the lawn needs mowed, someone mows it; if dinner needs to be cooked, someone cooks it; if a fence needs to be repaired or a paddock cleaned, someone just does it — regardless of their genetic make-up. That being said there are a few jobs that just so happen to fall on the shoulders of one or the other of us time and time again. One of those jobs is the transport of things into and out of our back shed. My husband almost always does it.
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Recycling. It’s eco-living 101, right? For most of us, it’s second-nature by now, and if your area offers commingled curb-side recycling, it’s even easier than ever, isn’t it?
But lately, I’ve found myself hesitating every time I’m about to drop something into the recycling bin, because my area’s recycling center’s list of unacceptable products keeps getting longer and longer. I can still recycle aluminum cans, but not glass. Corrugated cardboard is ok, but not pizza boxes. And the real toughie? Milk jugs are a yes, but margarine containers are a big, fat no.
I’m new here, so you don’t know this about me, but in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit to you all my huge dependence on margarine.
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Written on
October 12, 2009 by
DianaP
Last week Mireya Navarro reported for the New York Times on the greening of suburban municipalities. In Green and Greener in Suburban Towns Navarro highlighted the Long Island town of Babylon.
“FOR two years, Valerie Williams had been considering making the five-bedroom home she grew up in more energy efficient — hoping to shrink her $350 monthly utility bill — but more pressing expenses always came first.
Then the town of Babylon came up with an offer she couldn’t refuse: if she and her husband, Carlos, paid $250 for an energy audit, the town would finance the recommended upgrades. The couple would repay the town at a monthly rate below the savings on their utility bill.”
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Written on
October 9, 2009 by
DianaP
It’s hard to believe we’re swiftly heading into the middle of October already. Fallen leaves have been crunching underfoot for a few weeks now and the temperatures have taken an expected but all too sudden plunge. If that weren’t enough, it has also been raining for weeks; I can’t remember the last time I saw the sun. At this rate I fear the crops will be in the fields until January. Lest you think that only affects farmers like us, rest assured it does in fact trickle down.
With only three weeks left until Halloween and the month of November with all of its holiday madness hot on Halloween’s heels however, we’ll be doing more than fretting about the weather this weekend.
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Written on
October 5, 2009 by
DianaP
It is no secret that I love food. Local, slow, whole, delicious food. It should be no surprise then that I simply could not resist the opportunity to spread the word that the fifth annual Eat Local Challenge is underway.
I don’t recall a fundamental shift in perception ever having taken place. Rather, it was a slow and steady evolution that led us to curb our long-distance consumption at the dinner table. It wasn’t a conscious decision made, but it did turn out most convenient and achievable that way. I imagine much in the same ways that it would be most achievable for other families to go about it in the same way; slowly integrating local when and where it’s most possible.
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Written on
October 2, 2009 by
DianaP
We may have started the fall conversation almost two weeks ago, but there is something about the first of October that makes the season more official. And that’s even aside from the hard layer of frost I had to scrape from my windshield first thing yesterday morning.
As temperatures drop and day light wanes keeping green families busy gets tougher, but not impossible. As a matter of fact, it seems most of us are thinking along the same lines these days — gardening and preparation are the name of the game.
5 Minutes for Going Green reader, Shannon, shares two wonderful blog posts with us this week.
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Written on
September 29, 2009 by
DianaP
Bats are an ongoing issue in our horse barn. It’s old and as such has numerous nooks and crannies through which they find their way in. So much so that the hay loft may as well be officially dubbed a bat hotel. As much as I loathe their presence, shudder when I hear their high-pitched squeals from above when I do chores I also appreciate their service. And so far, their keeping themselves confined to the loft and the great out doors and not venturing into my tack room.
Bats, as creepy as they may be, are a vital component in insect population control and living near a river and flood plain in a state known for it’s killer mosquito population I can readily appreciate their value.
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Please give a warm 5 Minutes for Going Green welcome to our newest guest poster, Andrea Deely. Andrea is a blogger at the new virtual world for kids, MiniMonos and a passionate green advocate.
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Al Gore’s movie ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ caused an epiphany for mother-of-two Melissa Clark-Reynolds and put her on the pathway to creating MiniMonos, a virtual world for good green kids.
Seeing Melissa’s tears during the movie, her husband solicitously suggested she have a cup of tea to calm down, but tea wasn’t going to cut it for Melissa. She wasn’t going to rest until she got hold of Mr Gore himself.
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