You never know what yakking about green issues is going to elicit. Sometimes it’s a “give me a break already” but when my child’s Kindergarten teacher overhears me advising my neighbor about composting tumblers, she has a surprise in store for me. “Oooh!” she says. “I had worms in my classroom in Texas! Can you set me up with a worm bin?”
I’m totally excited and totally game. But I’ve never done worm composting in my house. What to do? First step? I read Worms Eat My Garbage. Great book, recommended by my sister-in-law, who’s a master organic gardener and 10+ year vermiculturist (is that even a word?).
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I have a confession to make. I want a tattoo.
I’ve always wanted one. I know that they are frowned upon by some. I know that they are not allowed by certain religions. I know that I don’t want my kids to consider getting tattoos until they are past 25. Hypocritical or not, I think that you shouldn’t get one when you are young because, unlike piercings or wildly colored hair, they are relatively permanent.
I turn 40 in one month, so that is what I’m giving myself. A tattoo. On my lower back so it won’t be seen by many – especially since I am not slender enough for a fan of low slung jeans and tiny shirts that ride up and show your booty.
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Written on
September 15, 2008 by
SusanC
Got a green thumb but don’t have the green space? You don’t have to live on a farm or have acres of yard in order to add some green to your scene. Here’s how to go green without the green:
Contain Yourself: Bring the garden to you with indoor plants and window boxes that surround you in green without taking up any outdoor real estate. Container gardens can be used to grow your favorite plants and trees…and even a whole garden of vegetables. Check out Garden Guides for tips on growing veggies indoors.
Scratch It Out: Grow flowers in your sidewalk!
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So much interesting content to choose from today, especially in this week of emotional days and angry weather. Here are some posts that caught our eye:
The Simply Green channel at Sparkplugging is talking about the possibility of doing laundry without water. Be still my heart…
Green Mom Finds told us about a green socializing site where we can all go find people as crazy as we are.
I wrote about a way to help you clean up your indoor air over at Mama Speaks.
Green Me alerts us to the issue of flame retardants in pj’s.
And this one isn’t from this past week, but it’s important and awesome and should be read by all.
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I have mentioned several times on this website as well as my own, that my green living journey began with a better nutrition journey. In my mind now, these two go hand in hand. You simply cannot live a green lifestyle and put bad foods into your body. Once you become conscientious about what you do to the environment, you also begin to be conscientious about what goes in your own personal environment – the body. You start to read more about foods, read labels, cook with fresher ingredients and shop smarter. However, just because something is labeled “natural” does not mean chemically it is good for you.
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Today is the day that most people know exactly “where they were when”, never forgetting those moments of realization at what was happening. The day when everything stopped, and everything changed. Forever.
Of the estimated 400,000 people believed to have been heavily exposed to pollution from the disaster, data suggests that 35,000 to 70,000 people developed PTSD and 3,800 to 12,600 may have developed asthma, city health officials said.
Read the rest here. The aftermath continues.
Today we honor those that lost their lives on that day. You are remembered.
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In recent years there have been studies and news stories about the danger inherent in our bed mattresses. Conventional mattresses contain toxic chemicals which leach out into the air over time (off-gassing).
Mattresses today are required by law to have fire retardant materials in them to allow consumers more time to get out of their homes in the even that there is a mattress fire. While that is the goal, the exposure that consumers may have to fire retardant materials in the mattress may be leading to the same potentially lethal outcome.
Boric acid, a household product often used to kill roaches is now being added to some mattresses to help them pass the government’s flammability test.
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All summer we have been buying food at the local farmers market. Last week I signed up for the Green City Market’s Localvore Challenge. Starting September 10 all of the participants will eat only locally produced food for two weeks. At first the challenge seemed improbable for someone with a family; however, after planning the menus and considering the impact, I find it works on so many levels. Health. Small business support. Environment. Money. Education.
As you can imagine, the health benefits are significant. No preservatives. No chemicals. You eat fresh foods that retain their nutrients. Trust me, they even taste different when they are fresh.
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Written on
September 9, 2008 by
SusanC
Need physical proof we are daily polluting our most valuable and natural resources? Look no further than the Hawaiian islands.
Lapping lazily in a relatively stationary section of the North Pacific Ocean, in between San Francisco and Hawaii, accumulated waste swirls in a never-ending circle, pushed along by the North Pacific Gyre, a large-scale vortex of ocean currents. Comprised primarily of various plastics, it has been estimated that 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources, and 20% from ships at sea.
Charles Moore was sailing in a Los Angeles-to-Hawaii sail race when he and his crew first saw the dense mass of trash, floating in what he calls “one of the most remote regions of all the oceans.”
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