Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Happy Earth Day!

Check out the White House blog for a video on green roofing and scroll down to see the EPA's Earth Day program.

What new habit are you going to start today to help our planet? Recycle more, compost food scraps, change purchasing habits, change driving habits, walk more, or grow a garden?

You can see some vintage posters and sign up for free kitchen garden seeds too!



_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Gimme 5

Many communities, including Fairfax County, do not allow you to put #5 plastics in your recycling bin. They only accept #1 and #2 plastics.

But Preserve, Organic Valley, Stoneyfield and Whole Foods markets have teamed up to give you a place to recycle those #5 plastic containers.

It's called the Gimme 5 program and it allows you to bring your #5s to a participating Whole Foods or send them to Preserve to be recycled into other plastic products. Just check the link to see if your local Whole Foods is participating in the pilot program. My market isn't one of them, but I keep reminding them about it and hope that they'll be added soon.

This is a fantastic program since a lot of plastic containers are #5. They'll even take Brita water filters! Yes, they're #5 too. It's difficult to see the recycling symbol at the underside of the filter though. I'd much rather see these plastics melted down and made into something useful instead of being incinerated or placed in a landfill.

Check out Preserve's web site and all of the useful things they make out of recycled plastics. I've used their toothbrushes and love them. I also use their large cutting board. They make their products in the U.S.A. and are doing lots of good things for the planet.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Lights Out!

March 28th is Earth Hour, where people all around the world turn off their lights for an hour.

You can sign up at their web site to pledge to go in the dark from 8:30-9:30 on the 28th. They are calling it a vote for our Earth when you switch the lights off. If you leave the lights on, that's a vote for Global Warming.

I saw on cnn.com where their ireporters are telling what they will do during that hour. You could tell jokes to family members, go for a walk, sit outside and look at stars, eat a candlelight dinner, read by flashlight, sit in zen-like state, whatever you can think of with the lights off.

It will be interesting to see how much power the world saves from just an hour a person.


_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Monday, March 23, 2009

Tips for a Great Garden

Step on over to Treehugger.com for some gardening tips.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Start a Garden

I have some seeds started in various planters and am thinking about making our garden area bigger and maybe expanding to the front yard. Our blueberry and blackberry bushes are looking good - a few leaf buds are forming. I hope the asparagus I planted last year comes up. This year, I'm planting cilantro, basil, rainbow chard, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and green beans.

I saw this great article about the new garden at the White House with tips on how you can plan your own plot.

Even if you have a super small yard, you can grow things in pots and hanging baskets.
When it gets warmer, I'm hooking up my rain barrel too.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _