Fun Link Friday!

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Hello all

Check out The Earth Friends post I wrote about at EcoChildsPlay!

Also, don’t forget to enter the giveaway for Chocolate Mint Truffle tea.

Want to learn how to make a nutritious snack for your kids? Find a great recipe here for Butter Balls. They look sooo yummy!

Learn how to make newspaper pots for your Summer garden this year.

Read all about second-hand and find out the pro’s and cons (series of posts).

Trying to go meatless? Learn how to make veggie meals.

10 Best Ways to Give Up Carbon for Lent: Ash Wednesday 2009

That’s all for now…have a great weekend! 

the Sun is the Answer: Energy 101

Editorial Note: Guest Post, by Glenn at  OakleighVermont  Follow Glen on twitter: @solargroupies

 Let’s break this down and keep it simple.

*The sun is the source of ALL of the Earth’s energy.

*Burning fossil fuels uses energy that has been stored for billions of years and cannot be replaced in the immediate human timeframe.

*Burning fossil fuels and biofuels put carbon into the air, which is rapidly destabilizing climate.

*The most direct energy on Earth comes from the sun.

*The more efficiently we can absorb and transform solar energy, the cheaper and cleaner and healthier earth will be.

*Another way to make energy is to move wire-coiled magnets past each other and create electron flow.

*Turbines are devices with wire-coiled magnets that generate electron flow (electricity).

*We can use falling water (gravity) or wind to spin blades attached to turbines.

Burning smokey fossil fuels to produce energy is a lousy choice. We know better now. Let’s change the way we do business and use sustainable, renewable energy!

 Thanks to felix945 and The Beatles for “Here Comes The Sun”

GIVEAWAY- Mighty Leaf Tea

A couple weeks ago I wrote a review on Mighty Leaf tea. I promised in that post that there would be a giveaway…

Today is your chance to win a 15 pack of the Chocolate Mint Truffle a new flavor that has recently been introduced. You’ll definitely want to sign up to win this awesome tea pack. It’s super yummy and will take away that sweet craving in an instant. Just call it dessert in a cup. I can’t wait to try some of their organic flavors!

Here’s how to win~

Visit Mighty Leaf tea and leave a comment telling us what tea you’d like to try. Must be a different flavor than one mentioned above.

If you want to earn an extra entry twitter about the giveaway.  

Leave a separate comment for tweeting.

Make sure you also leave your twitter name or url link to tweet.

You do not have to be a blogger to enter.  Non bloggers can earn extra credit by emailing a friend. 

Cc me in an email telling all your friends about this giveaway!

PLEASE BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR ENTRY!!!

Giveaway will end on Wednesday, March 3rd. 12AM PST. Winner will be announced on the 4th!

U.S. Entries only.

Don’t miss out- enter to win today!

Good luck.

Killing Me Softly: Recycling Waste Should be Mandatory!

Photo by Steve Brandon at Flickr Creative Commons

 

Yesterday, a friend of mine and I met up for lunch at a soup and sandwich shop. We had great conversation and try to get together as often as we can despite our busy lives. I ordered a soup and salad and she had salad and a sandwich.

As we sat there eating I couldn’t help but think about all the plastic that we were using. It was *killing* me. I just wish more companies were eco conscience about the waste they produce. I wish it was mandatory that we recycle all items that have recycling symbols. It just defeats the purpose, if it all gets tossed into the trash. It’s terrible. I cringed at my actions watching my hand toss it all into the trash.

Believe me, I’ve learned from this experience experience. I’m packing in and packing out next time. My husband and I usually do this whenever possible but sometimes the items are sticky and messy and I can’t put those type of items into my purse. When I can I do. From now on though, I’m totally going to start taking ALL of it. I’m bringing a seperate cloth bag to put it all in and carry it in my purse.

It’s my responsibility if the restaurant isn’t going to do it! I feel so strongly about this. Is it really that hard to have a seperate bin to contain all the recycling waste? I mean c’mon don’t we want them to set an example? I think it would be great if more restaurant chains and cafes were taking their waste into consideration and recycling anything and everything that can go right into a recycling bin.

It kills me to know that it’s all going straight into the trash and right into a landfill. Mother nature did not intend for this to happen. Why aren’t we listening to her? Why are we taking her for granted. Why? I wish, I wish, I wish that all places that create waste would hop on the green bandwagon and start setting an example. Maybe more people would realize the importance of recycling and start doing it. A step further for these food chains would be to use sustainable packaging and utensils.

The other day when my sister stopped by she made the comment after seeing me put together all my recyclable’s… “Wow, there really are a lot of things that can be recycled and you’re actually saving it to put into the recycling bin” My response was “See, more people need to realize this and DO IT- waste not want not- baby!” She laughed. I dont’ know if seeing it took her to realize the importance but I hope- hope – hope she’ll be more conscience in her decision to just toss a cardboard box into the trash.

I mean really, how hard could it be? It should be mandatory for food chains and any other business that create recycling waste to RECYCLE IT. 

What do you think? Do you take your waste home with you to recycle? 

Wouldn’t it be cool if: Cigarette Edition

Editor’s note: This guest post is from the EcoInsomniac who’s goal is to spread knowledge, entertain, educate and inspire you to green your life.

The USDA estimates that 360,000,000,000 cigarettes were consumed in the United States alone in 2007.  That is an absolutely staggering number to even think about. It actually comes out to just under 100 cigarettes per person per year.  Now there is absolutely no way to know how many of these cigarettes being consumed are ending up as litter, but estimates have been around 30%.  I hope that percentage is on the high end, but I’ve seen a whole lot of smokers flinging their butts to the floor.

Did you know?
Many people believe that the filter in the butt of a cigarette is made from cotton and are biodegradable.  Those people are wrong the filter material is actually made using a form of plastic called cellulose acetate and takes up to 10 years to degrade.

Cool Solution:
The coolest and only real solution would be to get everyone who smokes to quit, but that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. Anyway, since that isn’t happening we need ways to dispose of cigarettes and maybe even clean up those that do become litter faster.

Cool Ideas:
Cigarette manufacturers could embed small rings or strips of metal in the butt of each cigarette This would greatly increase the productivity of those who care enough to keep the ground clean by allowing magnetic pick up sticks or plates to be used instead of tongs or hands. This would also decrease how unsanitary it is to be picking up other peoples cigarette butts.

Cigarette manufacturers could find a way to use recycled and biodegradable filter materials in their cigarettes. This may not help those cigarettes that end up landing on pavement, but could have a better outcome for those that land in the grass or dirt. Would also be a good bonus to the recycling business which isn’t doing so well in the US at the moment.

I think permanent filters or mouth pieces could be an option. Smokers could buy the mouth piece and the “refill” smoke packs separately. This would mean after they’re done smoking there would be essentially no waste to throw on the ground or into the landfill.

Crazy Factoid:
In 2007, The Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup picked up 1,971,551 cigarette/cigarette butts along coastal beaches world wide. Cigarettes, cigar tips and tobacco packaging accounted for 38% of all litter the volunteers picked up.

Those are just a few ideas that I think are worth looking at. I know they’re not the end all to the problem, but they could lessen the impact that the litter has on our planet. Do you have any ideas? We’d love to hear them.

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