One

With our economy in a shambles and the holidays right around the corner finding the perfect gift without spending a fortune may be difficult to come by. I have always tried to find the perfect gifts for my loved ones, but it seems to get more and more difficult each year. Giving a gift that not only puts a smile on someone that you love’s face and helps others in need at the same time is kinda like a “buy one get one” kind of a deal!

Below are a few low cost green gifts that keep on giving!

• One of my favorite ideas is to adopt an animal in your loved ones name. These adoptions are not the kind you bring home, they consist of adopting an animal with a donation to their cause, such as a manatee, white tiger or sea lion (none of which you would like to bring home) You will not only be donating to a worthy cause, but most of these adoptions come with cute little trinkets for your gift receiver to remind them of the good that these donations provide. The World Wildlife Fund and Oceana are two of my favorite organizations to donate to. I have done this on several occasions and found it to be the perfect gift for someone that has everything!
• A subscription to a favorite magazine, is always a crowd pleaser. Your loved one will receive their favorite magazine for a full year and the cost is always reasonable. Mother Earth News is one of my favorite magazines and a subscription will provide a full year of green ideas, gardening tips, self-sustaining farming ideas and recipes, for the low, low price of $10!
• Another great idea comes from Heifer International . This program allows you to donate an animal to a village in need! The money that you can donate ranges from $20 to $5,000, for a fair donation you are able to donate an animal or a flock of animals to a village. For example, for $20 you are able to donate a flock of chicks, ducks or geese to a village, enabling them to eat or sell the eggs, providing an entire village with much needed nutrition or money. There are many different donations that you can choose from and in essence you will be giving the gift of self reliance to an entire struggling village.

Hope these suggestions help!

Keeping it real ~
Wind

Greenhouse Gases? Global Warming? Climate Change? Everyone on the planet is somehow partially responsible for creating the problems that the earth is facing today. Hell, even the cows are to blame!

In order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in the world, first we must understand what they are. There are seven different types of greenhouse gases that are emitted throughout our nation, some of them occur naturally, some are produced by human activities and some are human made such as Hydrofluorocarbons, Perfluorocarbons and Sulfur hexafluoride.  Gases that are exclusively human made are considered industrial gases, that have naturally increased since the industrial revolution nearly 150 years ago. Nearly 3/4 of the gases that are produced due to human activity in the last 20 years have come from burning fossil fuels.

We aren’t the only species that’s killing our planet, there is another culprit emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; COWS! Yep it’s true, all those “happy cows” in California are aiding in killing the planet! Cows emit a massive amount of methane through belching, and a wee bit lesser amount through flatulence. And methane is indeed a greenhouse gas; therefore it is righteous to say that the amount of cows belching and farting on the planet is killing us! Why is it just cows and not dogs, cats or horses? There are several animals, including cows that belong to a family of animals called ruminants. Ruminants have four stomachs and they use their stomachs for digestion, unlike humans, that use our intestines to digest our food. The stomachs in these creatures are filled with bacteria that help aid in the digestion process, but also produce the icky gas called methane.

So, what can we do? Well, there are several solutions to the cow=methane problem.

1. Many farmers are trapping the methane that is produced by the manure that their cows are producing and converting it back into energy i.e. electricity! They are then selling the electricity back to the power utility’s grid! Brilliant! What an ingenious way to turn crap into something useful and good for the environment.

2. There is also a study being conducted by Welsh scientists that believe that by adding garlic to your cow’s diet you can reduce their methane production. Hmmm…perhaps adding pizza to your livestock’s diet could indeed aid in the lessening of the methane production of your farm. The study is still on going, however early results do indeed indicated that garlic will cut down a cows flatulence in half. Huh? Who knew?

3. Cut back on your meat consumption. I know that it will continue to keep those “happy cows” in California happy!

We know that the greenhouse emissions have grown due to humans and well…cows; we need to do our part to reduce them. I’m sure that planet will survive, however we as a species may not be able to survive on an overheated planet.

Keeping it real ~
Wind

Over 200 years ago the human race made the decision that machines would make life easier, and thus started the Industrial Revolution!  The need for energy to run these machines has indeed made life easier however, it has made survival harder.  OOPS!

The Industrial Revolution was the start of the need for fossil fuels and by burning these fuels we are releasing gasses into our atmosphere that is heating up our planet.  If we continue on this trend the planet may no longer be able to sustain our species.

Now, many believe that this will not happen, as the scope of the reality is too big, it’s easier just to deny the problem and maybe it will go away.  Not gonna happen!  We, as a species created this problem and we, as a species, need to correct this problem.

By using less electricity we can help solve this problem.  Solar Panels are very expensive but are becoming cheaper by the day.  There are many grants and tax incentives out there that will enable the “average Joe homeowner” to achieve the goal of converting to solar power. The Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) website can lead you in the right direction for what is available in your state.

Practice the three R’s; Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  Every time that you send garbage to the landfill you are aiding in the production of methane which is a greenhouse gas.  Use your left over vegetable cuttings for making compost or stock for soups and stews. Be creative and find other uses for little things that you are going to throw away .  An example is your toilet and towel paper rolls, I cut them down and make little seedling pots that can be placed right into the ground! Always recycle; many cities and towns have started a recycling program to make this an easy choice for you, use it!

Purchasing Electric Cars can tend to be a very expensive change.  If it is not one that you can afford, take the bus as often as you can, ride your bike up to the store or walk.  The more we use our vehicles, the more we are heating up the planet.  Plan your trips in a manner that will allow you to use less fuel.

Just by making these few simple changes we can help clean up the mess that we created, for the good of the species.

~Wind

Note:  This blog is part of  Blog Action Day 2009 .  If you have a blog and are interested in climate change join here

Often I have thought about living on my own tropical island away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday constrictions of living within a society. However, the cost of being able to purchase my very own island; far outweighs dream.

Richie Sowa, a carpenter, eco-pioneer and artist from Britain, shared this same dream of mine.  The difference is he followed his dream, and built his very own tropical island paradise!  In 1998, Richie began collecting plastic bottles off the coast of Mexico and built an island structure using the bottles to keep the island afloat!

His completely self-sustaining island consists of a two story home, a solar oven, a self-composting toilet and his own food garden!  Well, here watch this video and see for yourself:

Wow!  I become more and more impressed every time I watch the video.  What a great way to leave your mark on the world…by not leaving a mark on the world…

~Wind

In an effort to aid people in keeping track of their energy use, Google and several utility companies throughout the U.S., India and Canada are getting together to launch a new program that will bring smart meters and the Google PowerMeter gadget into residences and business. For those of you that are unsure of what a smart meter is, it helps identify electricity consumption in more detail than your average run of the mill meter. It can also communicate that information via a network back to the local utility company for billing purposes. Google PowerMeter has made it possible to view your electric consumption with a secure gadget, the product is still being worked on and with fingers crossed it should be on the market later this year.

With the Google PowerMeter Gadget you will be able to determine how much it costs to leave your T.V. on, what uses the most power in your home and keep track of the energy efficiency within your home.  By keeping track of the energy consumption in your home, you will be able to make more informed decisions on how to become more energy efficient.

Keep your eyes peeled; this new tool should be available soon.

~Wind

When we speak about becoming self-sustained, we are speaking about relying solely upon ourselves for all of our needs.  This idea doesn’t just revolve around harvesting our own vegetables, getting “off the grid” or learning to bake our own bread and make our own cheese, it means “all of our needs”. This includes ridding ourselves of the waste that we as humans tend to make.  Sure we can reduce, re-use and recycle, we can burn our garbage, and we can even turn our food waste into compost to feed our gardens, but what about a composting toilet?

A composting toilet is like a little tiny ecosystem that will recycle human excrement. It will actually safely contain the excrement while microorganisms turn it into humus for you to return back to the soil. The composting toilet uses very little water, unlike the toilets that we use now.  A “normal” toilet uses almost 5 gallons of drinking water to every ounce or so of waste, which accounts for over 30% of our household water used only for flushing the toilet.

As long as these “humanure toilets” are operated correctly they can be clean, odor-free, environmentally friendly, provide fertilizer for your garden and use less water.  So, what do you think? Would you go this far to become self-sustained?

~Wind

 
Photo Credit: Tatnuck Brook Watershed Association

Happy Earth Day!  Nearly 40 years ago the first Earth Day was formed by the Senator of Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson, and nearly 20 million people participated!

There will be many celebrations to honor the Mother Earth around the world on this day; however, if you are unable to participate in any of them, you can participate in our own private celebration at home. This doesn’t mean having an Earth Day party at your house, although, that’s not a bad idea, but just by doing something for the environment around the house to give a tribute to the Earth on her special day!

• Plan a fully organic meal; support your local farmers, if you are able to use the veggies in your garden!
• Plant some herb seeds in pots. By keeping your herbs in pots you’re able to move them around so that they don’t get too much sunlight.
• Change out your incandescent light bulbs to CFL’s. This practice is not only good for the environment, but for your wallet too! CFL’s have gone down a bit in price, they are still a little more expensive than the Incandescent bulbs, but in the long run, they will save on your utility bill!
• Make some homemade household cleaners. This too will save you money and promote a lesser carbon footprint on the environment.
• Change the filters in your a/c, your car and your water system. Keeping the filters clean, enables the equipment that you are using not to overwork itself and it also good for your health.

Have a wonderful Earth Day!

~Wind

other related articles
You are What you Eat
How to Grow Herbs all Year Long
10 Steps to Greening Up
Common Household Ingredients for Common Household Cleaners

 
Photo credit: Consumer Reports
And so it begins…the mass production of “environmentally safe” products! But are they really environmentally safe? I read an article today by Greener Design on the Environmental Protection Agency possibly loosening restrictions and allowing some manufacturers to market disinfectants as “environmentally preferable.”

Please forgive my skepticism but what exactly does “environmentally preferable” actually mean? Does this mean that on a scale of 1-10 these products aren’t as harmful as the others? It would be very easy for a consumer that is uneducated in the ways of the environment to be easily persuaded into purchasing a product that they believe is safe for the environment because the product has some misleading label.  When the reality is that the consumer has purchased a product that just isn’t “as bad” for the environment as all the others!

The only way to protect our consumer rights is to educate ourselves with the products that we use and limit the products that we buy. Practice creating your own natural products at home.  Items such as cleaners, clothes, growing our own vegetables and other food products such as eggs, herbs or cheese can be made or grown at home much safer and cheaper than the products that we buy at the store.  When you must by products at the store, do a little research to make sure of what you are buying, it’s important.

~Wind
other related articles
Common Household Ingredients for Common Household Cleaners
Bag Gardening

Florida has a season for everything! We have Hurricane Season, Rainy Season, Foggy Season and yes, we have sea turtle nesting season…and this year it started early!  Sea turtle nesting season normally begins on May 1st and ends on Oct 31, however, this week the officials in St. Johns County have discovered two leatherback turtle nests on the beaches.

These turtles crawl out of the water, make a nest on the beach, lay their eggs and head back for the waters overnight.  Once the hatchlings arrive, they are usually greeting by a host of creatures that would like nothing more than to make them breakfast!  Birds, fish and raccoons are the three top predators for newly hatched leatherback turtles.  Most counties in Florida implement some sort of protection plan for these little turtle babies to ensure their survival until they make it back into the water, once in the ocean, they are on their own!

Since the turtles have started to come early this year, none of the normal beach restrictions have been put into place, therefore, residents and visitors in Florida are urged to reduce the beach front lighting and limit their driving time along the beach at night and during the early morning hours, this will reduce the risk of possibly harming the leatherback turtles.

~Wind

In 2005, the State of Florida and Lee County purchased 73,000 acres of land on the 90,000 acre piece of property known as Babcock Ranch.  The ranch has served as a protected home to much of the Florida wildlife, including the Florida Black Bear. As an exchange for selling the land to the state, developer Sydney Kitson got the “go ahead” to turn the remaining 17,000 acres into a green city!

The first step in Kitson’s vision, is to construct a 75-megawatt solar photovoltaic array, which is scheduled to begin later this year or in the early part of 2010, according to the signed deal with Florida Power and Light. The construction of the array will employ nearly 400 people for about a year, as this is the largest planned array on the planet! The photovoltaic panels use cells that will convert sunlight into electricity preventing 61,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in a single year. The plant and the city will be plugged into FPL’s power grid, however, since the city will use less power than the array will produce, it will become an exporter of solar electricity.  This means that solar electricity will power the city during the sunny days and will then send any unneeded energy to other FPL customers.

Not only will the green city contain nearly 20,000 homes, but Kitson plans to bring renewable energy companies into the city, bringing ‘green jobs’ into the development, creating nearby jobs that won’t require long drives into the major surrounding cities.  In addition to the green homes and green businesses, Kitson intends on equipping the city with electric car chargers, green roofs, a natural storm water system and a power grid.

The Babcock Ranch solar array will be the 4th major solar project that FPL has taken on, as construction has already begun on three other projects in the State of Florida which combined create 110 megawatts.

“Florida is finally becoming the ‘Sunshine State’ for real,” said Earthjustice attorney David Guest. “This is a fabulous Happy Earth Day present for Florida.”

~Wind