twitter thursday, green edition #5

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@LaMamaNaturale asked: What’s your eco mantra?

Just one of…

Mine: If it’s YELLOW, let it mellow if it’s BROWN flush it down!

and the twitterverse responded:

@cookingupfamily Make Sure my Green is buying Green, cheesy i know!

@ONL2 eat locally and buy direct from sustainable farmers! Know where your food comes from!

@GoGreenerOz “Just keep swimming” like Dory in Finding Nemo. Reminds me to just keep going, a day at a time.

@HempForHumanity don’t know if it’s a mantra, but I like, “When choosing your actions, ask what are the effects 7 generations from now?

@cdnchick reDUCE, reUSE, reTHINK

@RK818 http://twitpic.com/64rqb

@greenhomey “Make the little changes in your lifestyle that affect the earth in a big way.”

@graceonline Buy less, buy green, recycle

@YourDailyThread Be The Change You Wish to See in the world

@NatureConsCDA We will be remembered not by what we leave behind, but what we choose not to destroy…

@RosewoodMassage I only eat FOOD!

I ask you the same!

Happiness Comes In the Form of a Jar!

Over the weekend, we visited our dear neighbor’s from my childhood- I babysat their daughter and grew up hanging out in their home. They’re the coolest people on the planet. They’re daughter graduated from UC Northridge with a degree in Journalism and we’d been invited to celebrate! Since we hadn’t seen them in awhile we decided to take them some fresh eggs.

I packed a re-used gift bag with rafia and paper shreds and layered in the eggs. A whole dozen! For as long as I’ve known them they’ve always had a garden. The tomatoes they grow are the best- EVER. In the summer they grow tomatoes and peppers and can them…boy are they delicious.

Before leaving, we received 2 jars of their famous jarred Chileno peppers and a jar of Pomegranate jelly! We were some happy people- that’s all it takes- jarred goods. I know, sad-but true! Yum! Tyler and I love Chileno peppers. LOVE THEM.

Apparently, Tristan does too because he ate the tops off of 4 yesterday. He won’t eat the end with seeds (smart boy). I really should take a picture of him eating peppers and salsa.He can tolerate the heat, it’s funny. Sometimes it’ll get to him but usually after a sip of water he’s good- thankfully, no crying incidents have occurred- yet.

Anyway, we are SO looking forward to doing some canning this year. Our 2 peach trees are putting off some serious fruit. I’m hoping to can some peaches and make some jam. Also, cherry picking season is just around the corner. I’d like to go strawberry picking but there are no close fields- the closest would be 2-2 1/2 hrs. away. We’ll see. Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity to can tomatoes, cucumbers and beans this year.

What are you planning to can this summer? Or – what fruits and veggies will  you be picking this season?

Happy WW~ On Daddy Duty!

This is how he roll’s… 

Storytime!

A Little Rant, A Little Rave and Interview…

Happy Friday!

Boy, it sure has been a week!  The last two weeks have been stressful. It feels like everything has piled at all at once. This week was actually much better. It just seems my patience is a little thin…hmmm…I wonder why? BUT- I’m trying my best to stay focused and be in the moment and remember how grateful I am to be here and to have the opportunity to keep on living (and for family & baby, of course)!

Thank God for that oxytocin release from breastfeeding. It keeps me sane…and not to mention my placenta pills! Shh! Don’t say that too loud I might gross someone out.

Here’s a perfect example- Anoyonmous: Wow! You’re face looks really good- are you using anything? Me: No, just soap and water. I use olive oil to moisturize. Anoyonmous: Oh! well… Me: It’s probably the placenta pills Anoyonmous: ::gasp:: shh! don’t say that too loud! Me: Why?

What’s wrong with me saying that…it really is- since I’ve taken them I’ve noticed my hair is thicker and shinier and my nails are stronger and are growing out fast. Butt In: It’s a good excuse anyway! Me: It’s not an excuse, it’s the truth! Anonymous: You’re crazy! Me: Crazy to you, maybe.

I swear.  It’s funny, if you ask me. I’m such a shocking person-I guess. Another woman, I recently met- finds out I had the boys at home and she’s flabbergasted. I mean completely shocked.

Like “So…did the Dr. come by to check on the baby – oh! my! no! way!” All she kept saying was “No, way!” She wasn’t being rude at all she just hadn’t heard about woman giving birth at home since her 7th grade history class. I too, was shocked- but for different reasons.

In other news, check out my interview with Wendy Gabriel from the Examiner!! Wendy also blogs at MyGreenSide.com and is a fellow eco tweeter- if you’re on twitter make sure to give her a follow. Thanks for interviewing me Wendy! You made my week!

Tristan received a late birthday gift last week also (see pic above). It’s made in California by a company called Green Toys.

Green Toys are made from recycled milk jugs. Green Toys cares about their environmental footprint and for children. Green Toys have their toys tested by independent third party labs and are found to be BPA, Phthalate and lead free.

This is from their website:

Our products pass a plethora of tests, including:

• Consumer Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)
• Consumer Products Safety Standard Specification, ASTM F963
• California Prop. 65 restrictions on lead & cadmium
• FDA regulations for food contact
• Voluntary testing for no BPA (Bisphenol-A)
• International standards EN71 and ISO 812

In addition to their safety standards they also go even further to protect the planet and do not ship their toys oversees. I found the Sand Play Set featured in the picture above at Target on clearance. It was only $6 bucks. Score!!

I really like the quality of these toys. They’re sturdy and are the perfect size. They’re not bulky and bright colored. I find them to be pleasant to look at. The colors aren’t overstimulating.

For me, investing my money in these toys I know my bucks are going a long way. It’s much more than my child’s satisfaction. I really liked the packaging too- it was fun reading all the green facts on how Green Toys saves energy by recycling milk jugs.

Their product line-up is simple and classic. For girls you’ll find a cute tea set or jump rope and there’s a tool set for boys and as you can see I’ve featured a couple more! So, next time you recycle your milk jug think about the neat possibilities it has! 

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. Enjoy your holiday.

twitter thursday, green edition #4

@LaMamaNaturale asked:

What is your eco pet peeve?

Mine: When garage sale signs are left up!! ugh.

the tweeples said…

@fabrichound paper or plastic? NEITHER thanks much! hate when I forget my own bags (shame) lol!

@dsfq ppl using big appliances on HOT days, car left idling, ppl not paying att’n to what can B recycled

@ecoartware 1 eco pet peeve: excess and glitzy packaging and gift wrapping — out of date, I think.

@naturaldentist When people leave their lights on.

@YourDailyThread “Eco Egos” people who think that they’re above everyone because of how aware they are what they do. I’ve encountered a few

@randomprogress I would say my largest pet peeve is when I see someone flick a cigarette but or gum on the ground

@Amberdoula #eco pet peeve, flaming bits of garbage tossed casually on the ground and left to burn.

@VDog Eco pet peeve of mine — people idling theirs cars/trucks/motorcycles and gassing me and the environment! so stinky!

@SunshineDaydrea Individual packets of stuff. Or “microwave potatoes” that are wrapped in plastic.

@Blacktating People who won’t recycle when there is a bin right in front of them. Aholes.

@PlanetGreenCen That all the real companies that produce green tech, have really bad websites, and the good ones want $$$

@Ame5711 not recycling!! How hard is it to seperate your things into differant cans.nmy 2yr old even knows

@mightymarce ppl who run the sprinklers in the middle of the day.

** Don’t forget to answer the question too!

Happy WW~ Cheekers

Water for Life

Contributing Writer

by Jill Nussinow, MS, RD, The Veggie Queen™, http://www.theveggiequeen.com

Water, water everywhere but not this year here in Northern California. So I’ve been thinking about water, and not just this year but for a while now. People are upset about green house gas emissions and while we are working on making changes in our driving habits, and hopefully restructuring our eating habits (decreasing red meat consumption and going veg) to reduce our CO2 emissions, we aren’t necessarily changing our water habits, until mandated.

This year, we will have local government control over how much water we can use.  The city of Santa Rosa made an offer to pay people to take out their water-guzzling lawns. They’ll pay you money (up to $600 for approved irrigation and plants) to do this as it will save water in the long run.  But what else can you do?

Sometimes the little things make a difference, which is what I’ve discovered over time. Using vegetable rinsing water to water house and garden plants. Turn off the water when brushing  your teeth. In the shower use a low flow shower head, lather up and turn off the water, then do a quick rinse. (The guys in my house are still working on this one.) Flush the toilet only when you have to in your low flow toilet. My city requires replacing old toilets with low flow but if you don’t have one you can put a brick in the tank to displace water.

I avoid plastic bottles for many reasons so I have a glass bottle that I refill with filtered water from my tap. Beyond the plastic, think about the production, packaging, transportation, and, perhaps most important of all, the disposal of millions of bottles each day.

Get creative with your water use. As I tell my culinary students, if you had to haul that water in buckets from a river or stream, you’d think a lot more about how you use it. Use it as if it could be your last drop because if we don’t change direction in this stream, one day we won’t have a stream. I’m happy that you’re part of the solution.

Jill is a fellow of The Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy http://www.ecoleader.org

Book Review: The Green Teen by Jenn Savedge

The Green Teen is just the book I truly wish I had when I was a teenager. I always dreamt of getting involved and taking action but never had the guts or motivation to do it.

The Green Teen by Jenn Savedge offers great points and tips on how to get involved, how to go green, is filled with plenty of eco resources, ideas for organizing and communicating environmental change, as well as, ways to land job in the environmental field.

The Green Teen is an eco-friendly teen’s guide to saving the planet. In less than 200 pages it covers basics on what teenagers can do to protect the environment.

It will make an eco pioneer out of your teen! Children are the future and this book helps them to realize how important it is to start doing something about saving the Earth now.

I found the book to be very encouraging and delightful. It’s an easy read for teens and even provides interviews from other “green teens” to make it relatable and encouraging. Teens are very interested in ways to help save the planet and want to do their best to make each day a little greener. The Green Teen gives teens the green light for GO! Visit G2GGREEN.ORG

Share Your Green Wish

America’s Energy Illiteracy

Contributing Writer

Glenn Fay is a father, science teacher, blogger and chief entrepreneur at OakleighVermont.com and blog.

Image Credit: Mr. Transistor, Flickr

Here are the jaw-dropping facts that depict Americans’ energy illiteracy according to Public Agenda, a nonprofit research group.

39% of respondents couldn’t name a single fossil fuel.

51% couldn’t name an alternative energy source.

65% thought that most of our oil imports come from the Middle East.

56% believe that nuclear energy contributes to global warming, and 31% believe that solar energy contributes to global warming.

68% believe that “The main cause for increases in gas prices is speculators who drive up the price of oil.”

More than half don’t know that less than 10% of the United States’ energy comes from renewable sources. [If you rule out hydro and biomass, neither of which are likely to scale up, and restrict "renewable" to mean only solar, wind, and geothermal, it's less than 2%.]

17% are classified as “Climate Change Doubters.” Nearly two-thirds of this group, and 44% of the entire sample, believe that drilling the Outer Continental Shelf and Alaska would eliminate our need for imported oil.

19% are classified as “Disengaged,” meaning they don’t know and don’t care about energy much at all.

Another part of energy literacy involves understanding the entire process of producing energy. According to Chris Nelder, before we consider whether any alternative energy or future technology is feasible, we must first consider the net energy of the process, its actual scale, its flow rate, or how long it might take to scale. The net energy is the energy it takes to produce the fuel or technology that will deliver power. For example, hydrogen fuels sounds great, but the cheapest way to produce it is by using fossil fuels and stripping the hydrogen atoms off, purifying them, pressurizing them, storing them and transporting them so they can be sued at fueling stations. Each of these steps uses enormous amounts of electricity and money. It is simply not cost-effective from an energy or financial standpoint, say nothing about the infrastructure involved. And if alternative energy isn’t scalable for decades, this does nothing to address increasing carbon levels in the atmosphere.

In regard to addressing carbon, Nelder points out is that carbon cap-and trade policy would be a “disastrous boondoggle” noting that it has not worked well in Europe, and was subject to loopholes, without expected decreases in emissions. Instead, he proposed a carbon tax, as we have here at Oakleigh, although we know the four-letter word tax is not saleable with the public or political leaders.

Regardless of what energy policies we end up with and what unintended consequences await us and future generations, one thing is absolutely certain. A better educated public and political leadership on the science of climate change and energy policy is a must. How can this be accomplished? We already have some pretty decent K-12 science standards, although understanding energy and climate is not exactly front and center. Energy and climate need to be at the heart of science learning that goes on, not only K-12 but in colleges, on media, and everywhere. The best data tells us the future of humanity depends on leaders making informed, data-based decisions. We need leaders who are more knowledgeable than we are on energy. If your representatives are not energy-literate, it is time to put them on academic probation. If they don’t show that they have become educated over the next few months, in this time of crisis, it is time to elect new leaders who are energy-smart.

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