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When A Yule Log Goes Wrong

December 31, 2008 by ehoward

What not to do in a fire.OR, Top Green Fire Safety Tips!

We greenies love to be “natural” with our lighting and heating options, which often means burning candles, having woodburning stoves and fireplaces, or even just smoking a little “natural herbs” on occasion (that’s just from what I hear! I am married to a Canadian after all!)

But if we are going to “light up” — in whatever way it may be– it is critical we think safety too. After all, we want our obviously superior genetic pool to continue, and not to be snuffed out by a Darwinian towering inferno.

So, in case of human error, I recommend we all spend a few minutes on this great website that Momcentral.com turned me on to– Be Fire Smart. I browsed around the place and it gives all sorts of fun tools for parents, teachers, and kids to learn about being smart around fire, and most importantly, what to do if you are in a fire. My favorite is the Burning Questions quiz, which reminds us (I’m giving one away here!) that more people die every year in the U.S. in fires than they do in natural disasters.

JUMP! I’ll Catch You!

Of course, it really got me thinking about what are some top tips to give environmentalists for fire safety. So here they are:

  • Hemp– great for clothing or plant hangers, not so great for rescue ladders.
  • When the firemen are dousing your flaming house, that is not the best time to pummel  them with facts about water conservation.
  • Worst place for rechargeable batteries? The smoke detector!
  • Save the baking soda for teeth whitening! You’d need a LOT of it to put out that grease fire. Try a lid, and CALL 911!
  • Practice what you preach (this should be something we are good at, right?). Have escape plans and practice them, including from second and third floors.
  • I know it feels so wrong, but abandon ship pronto! Get you and the kids  out of the house and let the experts save you!
  • DON’T reduce on smoke detectors. You need one on every floor of the house, including the basement. (Duh. That’s where you have the furnace, and your husband’s elaborate handmade sawhorse collection. What is  more important than that?)

Well I hope you enjoyed my tips. If you want some more fun, click here and meet Firefighter Frank!

Happy green-not-charred 2009!

Posted in Brilliant Things, Great People, Later Days, Pay Attention!, reduce | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

My Cup of (Green Organic) Tea

December 29, 2008 by ehoward

Fujian's Butterfly Brand Organic Green Tea, from the Lin Asian Food Market, Milford, CTI have a real problem with the perennially-peppy,  “EVOO”-chugging hypocrite Rachel Ray, which might explain why I have never become a true convert to Dunkin Donuts coffee.

That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate DD and their brilliant re-branding strategy that saved them from a deadly one-two punch  of healthier eating and viral spread of the Starbucks experience.

However, whether you are clinging to your cup of Joe at the moment, or, like me, huddling around a mug of green tea, there is something about the hot beverage that instills true loyalty and keep us focused and motivated, especially in the mornings.

Bring It!

There’s a bit of a problem with these delightful hot (or iced double-half-caf with a twist) drinks, naturally, as they are never going to be local for us Westerners. Tea is grown primarily in India and China, and coffee beans, my friends, grow around the world like a belt — at the equator, ideally with temperatures of 60-70F and rainfall of about six inches per month or more.

So, like almost everything green we do, we have to compromise. Here’s some options:

1. Drink hot water, steeped with your own homegrown, organic flowers and herbs. Country Living and Web M.D. suggest using pansies, honeysuckle flowers, bee balm, lemon balm, mint, hibiscus flowers, and stinging nettle, name a few.  I should say, although I like growing my own herbs on the windowsill, but I tried Nettle tea once and it tasted like hot dirty perfume.

2. Buy Fair Trade coffee, which, by the way, includes ALL of Dunkin Donuts espresso-based drinks (not their regular coffee, however). When you buy fair trade, you pay a fair price to the small farmers of your coffee bean. However, buying fair trade coffees from DD is completely cancelled out if you buy it in the huge plastic cup with the orange straw which you later throw away. And I doubt the whipped cream is fair trade.

3. Look for the “USDA Organic” Certification - It isn’t just better for YOU, it is better for the workers in the fields, who are exposed to less deadly toxins as they slave away for your morning pick-me-up, and for the communities where the tea and beans are grown. Remember, they eat food grown in the earth and water that runs-off of any of the  fertilizers and pesticides used to make our Chai Lattes. The more we buy organic, the more demand there is to care for their health, and our own.

My Cup of (Green Organic) Tea

As for me, I have got a real love for tea, both caffeinated and herbal, now almost entirely organic. My two favorites include the Butterfly Brand Green Tea from Fujian (pictured above) which I found at the Lin Asian Food Market on the Post Road in Milford, CT for just $5 for 100 tea bags. And recently I picked up a box of 150 tea bags of Bigelow Green Organic tea bags at BJs for about $7.

And even though I love coffee, I feel great when I drink green tea which may be because it has 30 percent of the caffeine of coffee, and is also packed with antioxidents. Its delicate flavor also doesn’t leave a taste in my mouth that reminds me slightly of  fresh asphalt on a windy day.

Oh, and for a spicy treat, I love Good Earth’s Organic Original Tea (Sweet & Spicy) which isn’t green, but is delicious. It is also available in Decaf (pictured).

Posted in Brilliant Things, Chew On This, It grows on you, Love/Hate, green, mmmm... | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

A Tool to “Solve Wrap Rage”

December 21, 2008 by ehoward

Being married to the Ultimate Internet Shopper means we tend to have more packaging around here than I’d like to admit. This does mean, however, that we get to see all the varieties of packaging that really keeps me on my toes, and in some cases, provides 20 minutes of aerobic activity.

The latest was a 1 inch-by- 1 inch memory card for my camera, sealed TWICE (one inside the other) in clamshell packaging that was was 12″ by 10″ on the exterior. Sweet. It took me about an hour to open it. By then my camera was obsolete.

That’s why I was thrilled to discover this handy device– The PACKAGE SHARK! For a mere $15, I can get not one but TWO Sharks– presumably, one for each floor in my house,  to reduce any excess exercise/walking/freak chance of tumbling down stairs on my way to the junk drawer in my haste to open the latest scissors I purchased, shipped inside a clamshell package.

The Stats the Cut

Hey, I’m not the only one who thinks we need a way to solve wrap rage. Wired magazine reported recently that in 2004, 6,500 (yes that is 6-THOUSAND, 5-HUNDRED… 6,499 more than YOU) people went to the hospital with packaging-related injuries.

Amazon, the nation’s largest online seller, recently heard our ear-splitting/worse-than-paper-cut screams and offered a solution. NO, they are not sending complimentary SHARKS to every customer. They have, however, launched the Amazon Frustration-Free (TM) Packaging Initiative. It’s a multi-year project that is part of Amazon Green. It started in November and they have mind-boggling NINETEEN products available. Phew. What choice.

Good Things Come in Brown Paper Packaging

I should mention, Colin and I are accidental members of Amazon Prime (member fee, but free shipping!), so most of what we order comes from Amazon and not from an outside sellers. In the last 6-8 months, I’ve noticed a big change in the packaging. Most of the interior packaging is either inflatable plastic (I have to throw it away, but there is less and no styro!) or plain brown paper (which is great to save and wrap gifts with!)

So I’m holding off on buying a SHARK. I think I can live without for now. On an unrelated note, I still have to explain to the cashiers at my grocery store that I want paper, JUST PAPER. And repeat that two or three times.

P.S. I  can and DO shop local, but it’s hard to find Stratford-made memory cards for my digital camera.

Posted in Brilliant Things, Local, Marketing, Stratford, box store love, desperation, green, reduce | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Free Plenty Magazine!

October 28, 2008 by ehoward

Information still has to get around, and even though I like to read the New York Times on my iPhone in the bathroom, I am still partial to a real, honest-to-goodness magazine to hold onto and distract me when I am having quiet time in the morning. Also, I don’t have to worry about dropping my $300 investment in the toilet.

So naturally I am excited that Pepsi has teamed up with PlentPlenty Magaziney Magazine, for who knows how long, offering FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS to the green . Just click here, then click on the little green monster on the right side of the screen. There doesn’t appear to be any catches. They will send you an email confirmation and …poof, free magazine for a year.

Just be sure to share the mag, and recycle it when you are done.

Here’s a question for you:

Posted in Brilliant Things, Consume, Marketing, My Favorite Price, green, media | Tagged , , , | No Comments »

How to Be a Good Green Neighbor (in the Suburbs)

October 4, 2008 by ehoward

There is only one way to be a good (green) neighbor in the suburbs especially in a place where I live, which seems to be frozen in time:

Keep a nice lawn.

Colin and I went away for two weeks in July this past summer, and we had hot temps while we were gone. The result was a scorched lawn in front of our house. We weren’t too bothered — it’s just dirt and some plants after all, a temporary thing. But we were suddenly the talk of the Hilltop.

“Looks like fertilizer burn to me.”

“You could use a little water, I bet.”

“Got a few bear patches huh? Guess you don’t need to mow so often now, haha.”

Time to Plant the Seed

OH-kay. We got more comments on our pathetic lawn than we did comment our LED Christmas lights. (No one sent us the Hilltop memo that we were supposed to have electric candles in the window! How was I to know???)

Well, fortunately autumn and the perfect grass growing season is here. The air is cool and the time is ripe for overseeding. By the way, we did consider planting our veggie garden in the front yard, but feared we would never be spoken to again and forever be named the weird couple down the road growing pumpkins in the gutter.

I have to be shamefaced and admit that Colin and I were lured into the using a lawn service for the last year. Maybe we wanted to fit in, but I think it was the neighbor, Todd (oh the shame of suburban peer-pressure!) He had gorgeous grass and we attriubuted it to Lawn Doctor. After we discovered our neighbor was some kind of alien turf grower, obsessed with the perfect lawn, we decided that we needed to go back to our better — less herbicidal — instincts and try to care for the lawn ourselves.

My dad, with the help of good seed and fertilizer, has always been able to keep a gorgeous lawn. Since I don’t have him in residence, I am using the guidelines I’ve found on HGTV’s Organic Gardening website. I love this site, FYI. The videos are very informative and useful.

I also can’t wait to try out skim milk on my roses to prevent black spot. Skim milk is weird.

Posted in Au Natural, It grows on you, Local, Our Town, Stratford, desperation, green | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

A Green Example, in the Midwest

September 22, 2008 by ehoward

I love to keep up with news in my hometown, so I keep the Quad-City Times on my Google Reader. That’s how I found out the great green story of Dennis Osborne Sr., an industrious and wise retiree in Rock Island, IL who’s saving some coin in retirement by greening his lifestyle.

“He choreographed a series of changes to his two-bedroom Rock Island home that allow him to live comfortably while trimming expenses. A few of the more important steps were installing a high-efficiency furnace and air conditioner and a Rinnai tankless water heater.

Osborne’s other updates include:

  • using an electric car to get around town.
  • planting trees on the south side of the house to block sunlight
  • reinsulating to keep heat in
  • installing Energy Star appliances
  • running the air conditioner only in the evening, to cool the house before bed
  • using ceiling fans and opening windows for cross breezes

Going Green for Coin

The thing I love about this article is that it never once mentions that Osborne is an “environmentalist.” He’s not. He’s just a guy who likes to dance, who’s sensible, handy, and, in his retirement, wants to keep more coins in his piggy bank, than dole them out to the utility companies.

Dennis Osborne Sr. is the new electric cowboy, riding into town on his sensible and quiet car, saying with action not words that “less is more.” He is using the principles of his parents generation — Waste Not, Want Not — and the best of the green materials being produced today to formulate my favorite kind of environmentalist: the non-environmentalist.

Unbeknownst, perhaps, to himself, Osborne is going green for cash, a motivation that is much more likely to keep him making changes, than young red-faced activists screaming for change.

Thanks Dennis. You are an excellent example, for my parents, and for regular people everywhere.

Posted in Brilliant Things, Consume, Great People, I get around, media, reduce | Tagged , , , , , | No Comments »

An American Tesco

September 12, 2008 by ehoward

Tesco’s arrival into the American market is making me quiver with anticipation!

The conqueror of British retail and all-good-food-packaged-(including-four-overly-shiny-green-peppers-sitting-on-plastic-wrapped-in-plastic) is out to reenact the Revolution in Reverse,  determined to, someday, turn Wal-mart into a sniveling third-grader who got choked for its lunch money and ran away crying.

Thus, in post-superstore Apocalyptica, leaving every town in America with great hulking structures with dangling Ws (that now read “Mal-Mart”), turned, one by one, into Tesco Rollerinks.

But I digress.

Curiously, Tesco’s strategy for entering the U.S. market is a greenwashed one– I mean hey, if you can’t beat the life of out if, at least dress it up in the latest fashions. So Tesco branding automatons came up with this:

A Greener, Gentler Tesco

A Greener, Gentler Tesco

Interesting… They’ve decided to do everything wrong and can’t figure out why they aren’t winning over the hearts of American shoppers … hmmm.

1) Fresh. While the local food thing is sort of catching on mainstream, ain’t no way that the “Tesco” American thinks of the food they want to eat as “Fresh.” Fresh to a Tesco American = Vegetarian = beans and hairy arm pits. Yuck
2) Easy. It seems to appeal to the American Mind. We are, afterall, fat and lazy. But there’s that “fresh” word in front of it, acting as a modifier. What do Fresh AND Easy, together, equal? Sounds like carrot sticks to me.
3) Neighborhood Market. Listen. If you have to SAY it’s a neighborhood market, you probably haven’t chosen the right location. That’s like explaining milk to a cow then realizing that cow has got some big ‘nads. Our local “Shaw’s” doesn’t have the word “Grocery Store” in the name anywhere, but I reckon we figured it out when we went it a saw all the cereal organized into one aisle.
4) GREEN! What is this? British Petroleum?

Take a look at the branding for Tesco in Great Britain:

tesco_1

Hungry? Me too! Must Eat World!

We’re f*cking Tesco, got it!? Red, White and BLUE! So Fast, we only got five letters! And it doesn’t even mean anything! Why? because WE RULE YOU!

And, BTW, we also own you. So get in here and buy stuff! Now, before I sell your grandmother on eBay!

Hmmm. That cockiness of spirit. That brash style. Those colors. Reminds me of … something.

Posted in Chew On This, Marketing, OPINION ALERT!, box store love, humor | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Weathermen Always Stand Up to the Storm

September 2, 2008 by ehoward

In the recent hype over the Hurricane Gustav, I found this fantastic photograph, courtesy of the BBC .

You know, it’s hard for me to take Mother Nature seriously when Weathermen (well, sometimes it’s weathergirls, too, like my old friend Jacqui Jeras on CNN– not a man at all) insist on playing muppet in the gale force. I hope all remember the humiliation of this Al Roker incident:

Honestly, I am not sure which part of that is more embarrassing: Al Roker having to be held down by a flunky, or the the poor humiliated intern who had to do it. Personally, I’d rather be the intern. At least I’d be less likely to get hit by a tree branch.

I know the networks are a slave to the ratings, and all TV personalities are slaves to their escape-tapes, but do we really need to see someone getting pummelled by rain and hail, nearly whipped away in 100 mph winds to be satisfied that gee, it’s a-getting purty bad out thar!

Happy News

I think, personally, that it doesn’t matter at all what we want any more. Those of us mildly amused are to busy coughing in our hands to make any noise anyway. Meanwhile the media machines grind on without us, guessing at what, I don’t know, but sure as hell having an AWESOME time!

Whatever happened to the good old days of Willard Scott? Now there’s a weather reporter who knew a) how to stay out of the inclement weather (just fly where it’s sunny!) and b) knew how to gracefully and purposefully bungle the easiest job on the planet.

God love the weather reporters– unlike our politicians, they are ready and willing to face down any storm.

Posted in Great People, desperation, humor, media | Tagged , , , , | No Comments »

Decor It Yourself and Threadbanger

August 17, 2008 by ehoward

Courtesy stilldottie.blogspot.comLike many people, I try to be all artsy-fartsy, especially when it comes to home decorating. But I don’t have the gene.

Add to that equation an eco-bent that sometimes requires a double-dose of creativity, and lately, well, I’ve pretty much given up on making any alternations to the interior of my home.Those little helicopter seeds from the maple trees outside are pretty much the extent of my decor at the moment. Talk about organic.

Instead I browse the net and just imagine how homemade hemp curtains, or a handmade desk forged from reclaimed metals could better my life.

So I was thrilled to discover Decor It Yourself, a green-friendly, stylish-it-yourself blog that seems to be connected with Threadbanger, a totally awesome multi-media, make-your-own-clothes website.

Green style babes like Decor It Yourself’s Meg are my hero. Why? Because they can imagine it, they can do it, and they can explain it too. Sticks for curtain rods? Brilliant! Remove the smoke-stained paper lampshade and repurpose the frame for a gorgeous new lace one??? Why the hell didn’t I think of that?

There are many reasons to love my Mother… she’s handed down many talents to me: like the ability to, with one syllable, get a pack of rowdy kids so frightened they immediately disperse. However, Madame Domesticity she was not. Neither am I.

Oh well… I think the manual for the sewing machine is around here somewhere.

Posted in Au Natural, Brilliant Things, humor, old things, reuse | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

How Green Is Your Rock Flour?

August 5, 2008 by ehoward

The water is green from glacial rock flour

The water is green from glacial rock flour

Not everything is made green on principal. Some things are only green, by a trick of the eye.

Take the lake, for example. It’s Peyto Lake, in Banff National Park. It LOOKS a unearthly bluey-green, but if you look at the center-left of the photo, you can see the truth… a dirty glacier feeding the lake with a mix of melted runoff and ground rock.

What’s green here isn’t green at all, but light reflected off the powdery rock flour floating in the water. Green and blue are the shortest light waves.

How Green is Your Rock Flour?

What’s got me thinking about reflected green is my garden. I spotted a lovely, grungy-looking lady the other day wearing a t-shirt that said “Grow Your Own!” with an abundant garden scene. Our first organic veggie garden is taking over the backyard with cucumbers, pumpkins, radishes, and beans, with tomatoes and carrots on the way. I adore my garden, such as it is.

Too bad I don’t eat any of it. Green beans, ok. But I can’t stand cukes and the taste of carrots– blech. Maybe the t-shirt should have read “Grow your own! (and eat it too, you picky little snot!”). The question is “how” but why does my garden grow?

Meeting the Melting Icecaps, in person.

The glaciers around the Columbia Icefields are receding. The guides tell you it’s cyclical (which it is), but we are helping things along. They don’t say flat out “Look at the SIZE of that outer moraine! HUGE! You idiots! YOU and your SUVs did that!”

No… they are more coy than that. After all people are on vacation, here. Give them a break!

Meanwhile, back at the scenic outlook, the pushy glaciers, the alien lakes, and mountain after mountain are doing their best to appear impenetrable. It seems to work. My mind wasn’t on ecocity on my trip through Alberta and B.C…. It was on nature and my own experience with it. The rushing water and the haste of the beautiful warm season took my mind away.

Warm and lovely… another trick of the eye.

Posted in Au Natural, Canadians! Argh!, green, old things | 2 Comments »

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