Our mission is to promote sustainability through collaboration, innovation and education to improve our environment, community and economy
One Hour For The Earth
On March 27th at 8:30 p.m. cities and people all over the world are turning off their lives to help bring awareness to climate change. Last year more than 4,000 cities in 87 countries joined in. Over 300 cities just in the US went dark. This year will hopefully bring even more supporters.
To join in you can go to Earth Hour and sign up. Businesses, cities, and states can also join! It doesn't get much easier than turning off your lights for one hour to help bring climate change awareness.
Here are some tips and ideas for this Earth Hour:
1. Eat dinner with your family by candle light.
2. Find a local Earth Day event.
3. Host your own event!
4. Play games with the family by candle light.
5. Play Hide & Go Seek outside in the dark with friends.
6. Play Sardines with friends.
Remember if you are using candles during Earth Hour please use soy, vegetable, or beeswax candles. Normal candles are made from petroleum byproducts and can be harmful to us and the environment.
Earth Hour 2010
Will you join in? If so what do you plan to do for your hour?
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Read more about Lisa's quest to be more sustainable at Retro Housewife Goes Green.
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A More Sustainable Towel
Since embarking on my green journey, I look at my product choices differently. Before buying something I ask myself about its environmental impact and ecological footprint. What is it made of, where does it come from, and how much packaging does it come with? Can I find it used, or borrow it? Every time that I spend money, it is as if I am casting a vote for a product and saying, "This is what I support."
Most of the fabric in my clothing, bedding and towels is cotton. Cotton, of course, comes from the cotton plant, and so it is biodegradable and renewable. However, its conventional farming practices leave something to be desired. Cotton covers 2.5% of the world's cultivated land, but uses 16% of the world's insecticides. This is more than any other major crop. Because of the problems with conventional cotton many people are making the switch to organic, and so the production of organic cotton is increasing by more than 50% per year.
Another fabric that is often promoted as a sustainable choice is bamboo. Bamboo has a lot going for it - it grows very quickly and requires very little or no chemical pesticides or fertilizers. It is renewable and biodegradable and easier on the earth than the cotton plant. Bamboo fiber is also naturally antimicrobial and highly absorbent.
Unfortunately, the bamboo story isn't all so rosy. Making fabric from the plant is an involved process that often uses a lot of chemicals. There are efforts being made to produce it in a less chemically-intensive process, but for now it remains a bit of a blotch on an otherwise remarkable fabric.
Eden Home, an online boutique that sells organic and sustainable products, offered to send me one of their Nandina organic bath towels for free in exchange for my review here. I was curious to try the towel, since the bath towels that I received at my wedding shower 9 years ago are beginning to show their age. I would like to replace them, but I would prefer to go with a more sustainable choice than the conventionally-grown cotton towels I currently have.
Eden Home sent me the towel packaged in a cardboard box, with no extra plastic, so that was great. When I opened the box and felt the towel, I was amazed at how soft it was. The towel is 75% bamboo and 25% organic cotton, and very silky to the touch like a lot of bamboo fabric. It is one of the softest towels I have felt in my life.
I washed the towel before I used it, along with my regular laundry, and it weathered the washer and dryer just fine. However, it didn't dry completely along with the rest of the clothes. The towel is very heavy, and every bit as absorbent as it claims, so it seems to hold on to moisture. After hanging it in the bathroom overnight it was dry for my morning shower, though.
I used the towel for a week without washing it, and it kept its soft feel. It didn't develop any weird smells, either, so score one for bamboo's antimicrobial powers. However, I will admit that the towel felt a little strange at first. It's so soft and heavy that it can feel a little cold. And if my kids used it to dry their hands it would still be slightly damp a couple of hours later.
On the whole, the Nandina really is a lovely bath towel and Eden Home was great to work with. I find myself compulsively running my hands over the towel just to feel its softness. After a few days of using it I didn't find the feel so strange, and it is continuing to hold up well. I think that, in the end, it all comes down to how you feel about bamboo, and whether it's actually green or green-washed. (Bath towel, green wash, I'm sorry but I couldn't resist the pun.)
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You can catch up with Amber's sparkling clean adventures on her blog at Strocel.com.
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Central Ohio Sustainability Survey
Thank you for participating in the Central Ohio Sustainability Project. Your responses will help to create a Sustainability profile for the Central Ohio and shape future initiatives that support an environmentally, socially and economically thriving local community.
If you would like to receive a copy of your organization's Initial Sustainability Score and survey results once they become available, please include contact information at the bottom of this survey.
This survey was prepared by Eco Assist Consulting in partnership with Columbus Green Life.
For questions about the survey or for further information please contact Sara Rampersaud at Sara@EcoAssistConsulting.com.
In Case You Missed It — March 1-5
Did you miss a daily dose of 5 Minutes for Going Green last week? Never fear, we're here (with a recap!)
Asking's One's Self the Hard Questions kicked off a series in which I'll be examining all the things I'm doing wrong in our family's quest for The Green Life. And the way it came about was quite unexpected.
A couple weeks ago we invited another couple over for dinner and games. I've been friends with the wife for sometime but we hadn't yet gotten together as couples more than a few times — her husband didn't know me as well as she did and had no idea what it is that I do for a living. In our neck of the woods freelance writers aren't exactly plentiful so I'm accustomed to reactions of bewilderment when my livelihood comes up for discussion. What I'm not accustomed to is people questioning, even if in a friendly and truly curious manner, why I am fit to do what I do. Read More>>>
Shannon Baer gave us some great romantic ideas in Creative Green Date Nights
My husband and I are always busy with work, kids, our personal time, and sometimes it's hard for us to make time for our relationship. But it's always so rewarding when we do.
Since we don't always have the money to go out for dinner or a movie, I like thinking of creative ways for us to share time together or with other adults in a playful and romantic way.Read More>>>
She also introduced us to Happy Healthy Eating via Community Supported Agriculture.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a great way to support your local farmer and keep fresh vegetables on the table. Most CSA's work something like this:
Families (or single folk) buy a "share" (or two if you're a large family)- ranging in price from say $400.00 to $800.00+ and each week you meet at a pick up location for your box of vegetables and fruits. Most CSA shareholders pay in installments, some take advantage of work-share options, and all pay a down payment of some sort. And that's in part the beauty of CSA- because buyers pay the farmer upfront she can estimate how much to plant.Read More>>>
And on Friday we talked about how to Green Your St. Patrick's Day, Not Just Your Shirt this year.
I grew up in a small village (population: less than 400) in the middle of Michigan that is incredibly proud of its Irish heritage. It also just so happens that its local tavern holds the state's oldest liquor license. Combine these two facts and what I have always known is a huge St. Patrick's Day celebration; one with potato rolls, delicious beef stew and copious amounts of green beer.Read More>>>
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Diana Prichard is the Managing Editor of 5 Minutes for Going Green, a freelance writer, Handmade, local and artisan Food Columnist and aspiring small farmer. She lives in rural Mid-Michigan (just miles from that tiny village in which she grew up — and plans to attend St. Pat's Festivities in again this year) with her husband, two daughters, three dogs and an ever-changing menagerie of farm animals large and small. You can follow her on Twitter or friend her on Facebook.
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Photo Credit (Top, Right.) - Candy Kisses by James Spicer
Photo Credit (Bottom, Left.) - Bed of Clovers by Sadie Lou
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Green Your St. Patrick's Day, Not Just Your Shirt
I grew up in a small village (population: less than 400) in the middle of Michigan that is incredibly proud of its Irish heritage. It also just so happens that its local tavern holds the state's oldest liquor license. Combine these two facts and what I have always known is a huge St. Patrick's Day celebration; one with potato rolls, delicious beef stew and copious amounts of green beer. And if you didn't get to the tavern early enough, they'd be out of all of the above. People would come from miles and miles around to celebrate. It was standing room only and the town's fifteen parking spots on the one small block that made up "main street" were nowhere near enough to accommodate. St. Patrick's Day, here, is like Christmas — only without the pre-holiday stress and over-indulgent electricity usage.
Unfortunately, our consumerism-centered culture has turned this, just as every other holiday, into another day to buy cheap plastic trinkets and indulge in high-environmental-impact dishes and drinks. How can you celebrate in style without harming the earth?
Wear green, just not new green. You may not have a solid green shirt or one with a catchy St. Patrick's saying scrawled across the chest, but you probably have something containing the color. Top a black shirt with a green scarf, sparkle your ears with a pair of emeralds; whatever you choose choose it from your existing wardrobe. Don't have anything at all? Check out local thrift shops for lightly used clothing and accessories — bargains for your wallet and Mother Nature!
Eat Irish, hold the beef. Turn traditional Irish recipes upside down; create a vegetarian version or follow one of hundreds of recipes that can be found online — like these from Change.org. Can't imagine forgoing the corned beef or stew? Check out your farmer's market for locally grown pastured meat products. While you're there keep your eyes peeled for your side dishes, too. Cabbages and potatoes, both traditional St. Patrick's fare, are generally available now either after having been wintered-over or grown fresh from by local farmers.
Want a pint? Dye your own local brew. A few drops of food coloring will go a long way. Or better yet, find a local brewery who is offering green beer for the holiday.
Get the kids involved. For little ones holidays mean crafts and crafts all too often mean waste. Now's the time to change that. Use empty glass jars and a little organic potting soil to plant tiny terrariums of clover and watch them grow over the course of the coming spring months, cut pots of gold from cardboard boxes and let the kids color and decorate to their heart's content — pull out your recycling bins and get creative.
Here's to a happy, healthy and eco-friendly St. Patrick's Day for one and all!
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Diana Prichard is the Managing Editor of 5 Minutes for Going Green, a freelance writer, Handmade, local and artisan Food Columnist and aspiring small farmer. She lives in rural Mid-Michigan (just miles from that tiny village in which she grew up — and plans to attend St. Pat's Festivities in again this year) with her husband, two daughters, three dogs and an ever-changing menagerie of farm animals large and small. You can follow her on Twitter or friend her on Facebook.
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