It's Easy Being Green

Are you headed to a Mardis Gras party or celebration tonight or tomorrow?  If you are and you end up with handfuls of the coveted beads when you’re done partying, save them and recycle them. That’s right, instead of just throwing your beads away long after their luster is gone, you can send them back to New Orleans and have them recycled for a good cause.  The Arc of Greater New Orleans is a non-profit groups that serves people with intellectual disabilities and delays from birth through... (more...)

Home renovations might look more green in due time thanks in part to the latest economic stimulus plan put in motion by President Obama.  The economic rescue package passed by the Bush administration last Fall renewed the IRS Section 25C tax credit, which credited homeowners 10% of the purchase costs of green renovations with a $500 lifetime cap.  Contractors claimed it wasn’t enough to motivate homeowners to sign contracts and pursue green renovations. Obama’s latest economic stimulus... (more...)

Since my wife and I are expecting our first child, due in early Summer, I’ve been poking through my books taking a look at some homemade items we can make instead of buying at the local store.  I ran across this recipe for Creamy Baby Lotion in Dr. Myles H. Bader’s book 1,001 Secret Household Formulas and Money Saving Tips.  The book has hundreds of ideas and homemade products you can put together yourself. Because you’re making this lotion yourself, it’s not loaded with... (more...)

A $31 Million package of incentives and tax credits for alternative and green energy sources has passed the U.S. Senate’s Finance Committee.  The package is expected to be ready for President Obama to sign by mid-February. The packages would give homeowners tax credits for investing in alternative energy sources like wind or solar and for making their homes more energy efficient.  Alternative energy companies can also carry their current tax credits for an additional five years. I think this... (more...)

As I talked about yesterday, I’m not sure most people heed warnings and prpeare themselves to be without essential services like power and water for extended periods of time.  The devastating ice storm here in Indiana and Kentucky has pushed the idea to the forefront of my mind because I’ve seen firsthand how people have reacted.  It’s always reactionary it seems.  Most people just don’t prepare themselves. So what should you do in the event of a blackout?  The Red Cross... (more...)

I’m glad to say we’re safe and sound following the major ice storm that just ripped through the Midwest this past week.  It’s been a stressful time and that’s why I haven’t popped much up onto the blog in a few days. We were some of the lucky few that have had power all the way through this event.  The night of the storm, our power went out for a few minutes while transformers and power lines blew all around us.  We laid awake in bed thinking that was the last we’d... (more...)

If you’re like me, by this time of the year you start itching to get out of winter.  As much as I love it I also can’t wait to warm up into Spring and get back outside into the yard and the garden.  It’s a time of the year that signals plenty of produce and fresh food in the months to come.  By the time January rolls around, I anxiously await all 50 of the gardening and seed catalogs that pile into our doorside mailbox.  I’ll spend hours planning, plotting and circling... (more...)