It's Easy Being Green

In case you missed it, NPR’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow had a great little teaser this past week about their latest SciFri video. Flora Lichtman recently paid a visit to a geodesic dome home built in “Long Guy Land”, New York. The piece is fantastic and gives a tiny glimpse into a life less dependent on the man or the machine.

I won’t give too much away but I have to give props to former NYC firefighter Kevin Shea for taking an arm-chair idea and running with it. I find it especially funny that his neighbors just don’t get it and actually detest the idea. You can be sure though they would be the first ones knocking on Shea’s looking for refuge or help. Special thanks to the crew at Science Friday for bringing this story to light! Watch the video below and then share your thoughts. Would you live in a geo-dome? Do you have an unconventional home that is easy on the environment and your pocketbook?

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I just wanted to take a moment to give some mad props to some sweet bubble bath we picked up for Everly this week. Heading back from this month’s prenatal appointment at The Farm, we made our usual pilgrimage to the Whole Foods in Franklin, Tennessee. One special that caught our eye this week was the Alaffia Every Day Shea, Shea Butter Bubble Bath.

Everly ran out of the “cheap” econo-sized bottle of bubbles we bought at Walmart a few months back. Finding the Alaffia bubbles was perfect timing. She loves these bubbles more than any other brand we’ve purchased. The comforting Eucalyptus Mint fragrance calms our Darling Daughter right down when it’s time to hit the tub. The sudsing action is amazing and even better, Alaffia’s bubbles don’t contain sodium laurel sulfate. These bubbles smell great and lather my daughter in a rich, shea butter based cocoon of bathtime goodness. What more could a parent ask for?

After reading the bottle, I now know that Alaffia is Social and Fair Trade Certified by the IMO. Since shea butter is primarily produced in West African nations, this is important in ensuring the farmers and workers there are receiving a fair price for their product and labor. Even better, 10% of my purchase with Alaffia goes to support community empowerment projects in West Africa. Some of the funds help ship used children’s bicycles from the U.S. to impoverished villages so young girls can get themselves to school. Funds also go to support the purchase of school supplies and repairs. Money is also used to help fund pre and post natal care at a maternity clinic in Togo, an area gripped by high infant mortality rates and sub-standard healthcare.

Some of the proceeds from every Alaffia purchase helps transport used bikes to West Africa so girls can have an opportunity to get to school.

I’m so proud of this socially conscious purchase. I know it may sound silly but when you take the time to find products that really do improve the world, you’ll know your dollars are helping to make a difference. Can you say that about the bubbles your kids use at bath time? Sure these bubbles might cost a little more than petroleum based bubbles bought at your local big box store, but I think the end result is worth it.

If you’re looking for some sustainably produced, Fair Trade Certified, extra gentle and non-toxic bubbles for your baby that rock, check out Alafffia! You can also read up on them at their blog.

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Our three little Auracana hens are growing bigger and bigger every day and their personalities are developing more too. Check out our live chicken cam where you can see a video stream from their pen 24/7. Just click the video box to the right of this post and sit back to watch the fun! You can also chat with me live via Twitter using the hashtag #babychickcam

I finished assembling the backyard chicken hutch that Talina got as a birthday gift from her parents and soon it will have its own special place out in the vegetable garden. In the meantime the chicks will stay inside where it’s warm and dry. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see the chicks on cam. They’re probably just trying to get some privacy as they sleep right beneath the lens of the camera. Those naps don’t last long though so check back regularly to see what kind of trouble they might be getting into.

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Our mailbox is looking like most other gardeners mailboxes these days, overflowing with this year’s flush of seed and plant catalogs.  As much of a nerd as I am, it is one of the things I most look forward to at the start of the new year.  It brightens the winter doldrums long after the warmth of the Christmas cheer is gone to think about the sunshine, warmth and rewards reaped in the upcoming gardening season.

Seed prices can be exorbitant at times.  Just flipping through the Burpee catalog, I can easily ring up a $100 bill in my head by tallying my wants on just a handful of pages.  Quite frankly it’s ridiculous, especially considering most seed purchased from gardening catalogs are hybrids.  While hybrids allow for an almost endless possibility when it comes to different varieties available to grow, it also limits what you’ll get from any seed you might save for next year.  Hybrids don’t reproduce a plant that’s just like the original so you never know what you’re going to get.

On top of that, I just learned something even more concerning about most of the major garden seed companies.  I just started reading Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle this past week and I’m already enthralled.  Kingsolver documents her family’s first year in their quest into the land of sustainability and local eating.  It’s humorous and informative, possibly helping you down a path that could be full of a few pitfalls.  Today, I learned from Kingsolver’s writing that giant agribusiness conglomerate Monsanto supplies many strains of garden seed to these big companies.

Needless to say I reeled in horror thinking about our seed box and how much of it might be from just one of the many companies I associate with the devil.  Remember, Monsanto is the company who produces Genetically Modified plants like corn and soybeans which are Roundup Ready.  The gene manipulation allows the plants to be sprayed with Monsanto’s chemical cocktails, killing every weed and pest around it yet leaving the corn or soybean plant untouched.

This villainous company has also made a name for themselves attacking farmers who, by no fault of their own, have Monsanto’s GM plants growing in their fields.  This company, along with several others, are making an effort to homogenize and patent whatever plant they can.  It’s a path that is leading our human race to outright calamities like  famine and the eventual death of open-pollinated varieties of plants that have been around for ages.  Recently, Monsanto also got approval to begin selling their GM alfalfa.  With no possible way to prevent the spread of this genetically modified plant, consumers who rely on organic alfalfa for food or animal feed now face a bleak future.  Monsanto’s bullying tactics and outright quest to own and dominate the world’s food supply has to be stopped.  If you haven’t already contacted your legislators about this, please do so immediately.

While Monsanto’s main business is to supply farmers with bulk seed for corn, soybeans and other commodity crops, Kingsolver’s book said they’re also dabbling in garden seed supplies.  Of course not wanting to give Monsanto anymore of my hard earned dollars and definitely not wanting to consumer GM foods from my own garden, I want to know who these seed companies are and how I can avoid them.  The Council for Responsible Genetics has developed a Safe Seed Pledge giving seed companies the opportunity to denounce GM seeds and refuse from selling them to their customers.

I’m glad to see some of our favorite garden seed companies on the Safe Seed list like Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek Heirlooms, Ferry Morse, Territorial Seed Company and Native Seeds SEARCH.  Thanks to this list, I’ve also now discovered my nearest seed company signed on to that pledge:  Nature’s Crossroads in Bloomington, Indiana.  Burpee and R.H. Shumway are two of my total disappointments who sell GM seed and won’t sign the pledge.

I eventually want to become a member of Seed Savers Exchange so I can get the big giant book of thousands of members who trade seeds back and forth.  This is a great way to spend less on your gardening pursuits, share what you have and do your part to ensure biodiversity will continue despite the pursuits of some greedy corporation only looking out for themselves.

I’ve started a local Tri-State Seed Savers Exchange group on Yahoo Groups.  Become a member and begin swapping your extra seeds or plants with other fellow Tri-State gardeners.  Together we can do our part to maintain local biodiversity and share the rewards of our gardens.

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Now more than ever, American companies need to step up their game and innovate. We’re now in the race of our life with growing economies all across our globe and if we don’t smarten ourselves up, I’m afraid of where we might find our great nation a few decades down the road.

One industry I’ve felt needs to get much better at the innovation game lately is the good ‘ol Detroit motor works. For too long American automotive companies have been stuck on bigger, badder, more oil-guzzling tanks that ferry soccer Moms from one end of the city to the other or for dear old Dad to simply drive daily back and forth to the office.

While greener vehicles are on the rise, I think American automakers have been slow to think ahead and join the trend. GM started out remarkably several years back when they unveiled the EV-1 but then later recalled the vehicles and mothballed the program for reasons we will probably never fully understand. Fast forward 15 years later and here we go again with most of the American automakers releasing some sort of all-electric vehicle to compete with the ever-growing foreign car market.

I’ve been a huge proponent behind the release of Nissan’s Leaf and both Homestead Hottie and I dream of parking one in our own driveway sometime in the near future. Speaking of the Leaf, did you know you’ll soon be able to use your cell phone to pre-heat or pre-cool the cabin of your car while it is plugged into the power outlet? That’s a new little fact I learned today while reading about all the negative side-effects to letting your car idle in the driveway so you can pre-heat on those cold winter days.  I also need to give some love to my American ingenuity too, namely Chevy’s brand new Volt.   I am ecstatic that GM seems to be jumping on the electric bandwagon too, trying to innovate and develop the cars of our future that will help evolve and lessen our reliance on foreign oil. Speaking of oil, remember that pesky disaster in the gulf thanks to BP’s Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill that lasted for months?

GM has taken ingenuity and environmental stewardship to a new level by finding a way to recycle those oil-soaking booms that were used to skim the spill off the ocean’s surface. So far the automaker has been able to help divert about 100 miles of the oil soaked booms from landfills by turning it into new plastic parts used under the hoods of the Volts. The recycling process will produce about 100,000 pounds of plastic resin for the Volt’s components, enough material to supply the first year production needs of the Volt’s roll out.

Image courtesy GM

The parts are used to deflect air around the Volt’s radiator and are made from 25% of that boom material and another 25% or recycled tires coming from GM’s Milford Proving Ground vehicle test facility. The remaining 50% is a mix of post-consumer recycled plastics and other polymers.

The parts, which deflect air around the vehicle’s radiator, are comprised of 25 percent boom material and 25 percent recycled tires from GM’s Milford Proving Ground vehicle test facility. The remaining is a mixture of post-consumer recycled plastics and other polymers. There is no doubt this development helped the Volt land its latest award of Green Car of the Year by Green Car Journal.

Image courtesy GM

The recycling initiative doesn’t just end at the Volt though. GM has started recycling their manufacturing materials at every stage of their lifecycle. They are using renewable materials in cars and trucks that are at least 85% recyclable. Used tires, old plastic bottles, denim and nylon carpet are all redirected from landfills and reused in select GM vehicles.

GM facilities worldwide recycle 90 percent of the waste they generate. The automaker recently announced more than half of its worldwide facilities are now landfill-free – all manufacturing waste is recycled or used to create energy.

This is American ingenuity and innovation I can be proud of and more companies need to be striving to do the same. They also need to not rest on their laurels and continue pursuing even better ways to make their manufacturing processes even more environmentally friendly and sustainable.  Have you considered buying a new electric car?  Maybe you’ve already purchased one.  Leave a comment below and let us know your experience.

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