Happy Labor Day weekend to you all from the green team here at 5 Minutes for Going Green! Here are some interesting reads for your long weekend:
-Geek Dad creates an incredible Styrobot, all from styrofoam he collected over the past several years. Check out the awesomeness.
-Last week, our own Crunchy Chicken had some exciting updates on the distribution of pads for her very important and very successful Goods 4 Girls organization. Go read about what happened in Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda.
-Another one of our rock stars, Mama Bird, pointed out the lack of environmental awareness among the American Dental Association.
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Most of us think that toxic chemical exposures can’t be very good for us. Yet, it seems that we go about our busy days blissfully unaware of the alphabet soup of toxic chemicals to which we expose ourselves each day. If you think about it, you start to wonder whether you should have a hazardous chemical warning label inked on your chest.
Before you read any more, let me just be clear that just because we are a exposed to a chemical, doesn’t mean that we are going to get sick. A particular chemical may cause an increased risk of cancer in a laboratory animal.
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Written on
August 27, 2008 by
SusanC
Did you know that 1/4 of all of the pesticides used throughout the entire world are used in the production of cotton? Not soybeans. Not rice. Not any of the major food crops. Cotton. We can’t eat it and we can’t feed hungry people with it, yet we’re dousing our planet in chemicals to feed our bottomless addiction to clothing. Add to that the fact that most conventionally produced clothing is made using dyes and finishes that are loaded with chemicals. And to keep clothes cheap, many items are produced using child labor forces in deplorable sweatshop conditions. Whew! That means that the clothes on our backs that many of us (myself included!)
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Believe in yourself and there will come a day when others will have no choice but to believe with you. -Cynthia Kersey
Do you remember as a child when there was no such thing as obstacles? I remember always asking my parents “why not?”. It was inconceivable to imagine that I could not Do or Be anything I wanted. Do you remember that feeling as a child? The sense you had that all things were possible? Take five minutes and have some fun with me because today we are going to do some dreaming!
In the last couple of years I have really come to appreciate the dreaming side of myself.
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Making miracles happen may seem a bit daunting for a Tuesday morning, but with 5 minutes to spare, you can take it upon yourself to make something wonderful happen for our earth. Here’s a few quick ways to make a miracle when the phone is ringing, the kids are making a ruckus, and you’re feeling like green living is impossible:
1. Unplug it. That’s right. Walk over to your laptop and computer, your counter top appliances, your television, hair dryer, vacuum, alarm clock, cell phone and lamps, and pull the plugs. Even when electronics are turned off and plugged in, they continue to draw power.
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More inspiration for the weekend:
-An inspiration post about biking from One Green Generation (with amazing photos).
-Run DMT is talking about why organic produce really IS better.
-What gets us buying the latest and greatest? No Impact Man reminds us that the zero sum game (i.e., I get everything, you have nothing) is how we are persuaded into unhappiness.
-Burban Mom encourages us to go green with our deodorant, and I second her 9 months on/3 months off plan!
-In her journey to eating locally, Simple-Green-Frugal tells us how you can eat out and still be green.
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Written on
August 20, 2008 by
SusanC
I can vividly recall riding the school bus when I was a kid. I remember the ride as being very long, very boring, and very stinky. And while I was probably exaggerating the long and boring parts (my ride lasted about 15 minutes) I now know that I wasn’t imagining the stink…
A recent Yale University study found that children who ride a school bus are exposed to up to 15 times more particulate pollution than average. Researchers estimate that this increased exposure is due to the idling and queuing of school buses. In other words, as school buses line up and wait in front of the school, they fill up with harmful (and stinky) particulate pollution that will stay with the kids throughout their ride.
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I’ve found there are several aspects of my journey towards going green that require me to slow down my usual crazy, hectic pace, and, I admit, this isn’t always easy. When you decide to do things like prepare your meals from scratch, grow a garden, make your own yogurt or dry your clothes outside on a clothesline, you have to A) plan ahead and B) allow yourself the time to accomplish these things. This doesn’t always make for an easy transition in a world where time is money and we often over-schedule our lives.
When I first started drying our laundry (everything from cloth napkins to clothes, linens to cloth diapers) on a clothesline this summer, I was frustrated with how much time it took, specifically to hang everything up.
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A Going Green Checklist:
- Learning to conserve energy? Check.
- Reusable shopping bags? Check.
- Shopping local? Check.
- Making greener choices at the market? Check.
- Using greener cleaning products or natural alternatives at home? Check.
- Reducing water waste? Check.
- Growing our own produce? Check.
- Driving less? Check.
- Treating my body like an environment worth preserving? Ummmm……check?
Did that last one stump you? In all your efforts to go green in your life, home, and community, have you forgotten something very important? We spend lots of time greening up our homes, our communities, and learning to eat better. We make choices everyday to put the environment first and preserve nature and habitats.
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If you happen to live in a place that has one solid outdoor growing season like I do, then the harvest is fast approaching. Here and there you’ve probably begun to pick a few things out of your garden already. Soon, though, your garden will be overflowing with produce and it will be a good idea to have your food preservation methods ready to go.
What? Preservation methods? I can’t just eat it all fresh?
You’re going find out quick that you cannot eat everything fresh out of your garden, and your friends might get tired of you popping by with baskets of offerings.
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