Our Greener Life

Thanksgiving is nearly here, bringing with it lots of time spent in the kitchen cooking. Why not make your cooking more eco-friendly this year? “Green” cooking refers to more than the color of your foods. Truly green cooking covers your choice of foods and how they are prepared. Here are some ideas for greening your culinary efforts.

Cookware

1. Choose long-lasting materials to reduce waste, such as cast iron.

2. Buy used cookware at your local antique store, yard sale, or second-hand shop. Make sure, however, that pots and pans are not warped, as this can effect heat conduction.

3. Make sure you use a pot on the right-sized stove eye. Using too small a pot on a large burner (or vise versa) wastes heat and energy.

4. Choose utensils that are made from sustainable materials, like bamboo. Avoid plastic. Utensils and flatware are also plentiful at antique shops and yard sales.

5. Choose cookware made from metals that conduct heat well: copper, cast iron, aluminum (use anodized aluminum if you have health concerns).

6. Avoid Teflon and non-stick coated pans; toxic chemicals known as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are used in the coating.

7. Buy cookware with an eco-friendly, non-stick finish, such as enamelware, anodized aluminum, or by a new process known as nanotechnology. Also, seasoning your cast iron and cleaning it properly (no soap) will create a natural, non-stick finish.

8. Stainless steel is not a very good conductor of heat, but it is recyclable.

Energy Use

1. If possible, upgrade to a convection oven, which cooks food far faster than a conventional oven.

2. Use a pressure cooker to cut down on cooking time. Whole grains can be cooked in half the time, and meats can be cooked with the “all day tender” flavor and texture in under an hour.

3. Use a slow cooker on low for long-term cooking. It uses less energy than baking something in an oven for hours.

4. Cook outside. And while you are out there cooking, turn off the heat or air conditioning in the house!

5. Use residual heat. This works especially well for cooking greens and steaming vegetables. Cover the pot tightly, bring the water to a boil and then turn off the burner, leaving the pot on the burner. The vegetables will continue to cook with the residual heat.

6. Cover your pots and pans to lessen cooking time. This is especially true when boiling water.

Food

1. Buy local food. It takes less gas to get local food to the market, and such produce is not likely to be sprayed with preservatives or other chemicals applied for long transport.

2. Cut and chop foods into small pieces before cooking; they’ll cook a lot faster.

3. Cook foods simultaneously to cut down on the total time you are using your stove.

4. Limit the trips to the fridge. Think through what you need to get out of the refrigerator and get it in one trip. It’s worth it to hold the refrigerator a few minutes longer to get all that you need to prevent opening and closing the refrigerator door dozens of times.

5. Buy organic foods, which are better for the environment for so many reasons. Not only are organic foods free of synthetic agrichemicals, they are also a component of sustainable agriculture, assuring productive farms for the future.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

If you are concerned about the environment or just want to save money (or both!), you are probably looking for ways to reduce your electricity use. Here are 20 suggestions and tips for getting those utility bills down and shrinking your carbon footprint.

1. Hang your clothes up to dry, either indoors or out.

2. Cool your home with fans and open windows in the summer.

3. Check your home’s insulation, and seal any cracks as necessary. Apply weather stripping to doors and windows, and insulate your attic if it is not already.

4. Turn your refrigerator down (but not so far that you find food spoiling too quickly – that, of course, is also wasteful).

5. Turn your thermostat down before you go to bed and when you leave the house.

6. Invest in compact fluorescent light bulbs. If you are able, have skylights or sun pipes installed.

7. Turn off lights during the day and when you leave a room.

8. Have dinner (and other meals!) by candlelight.

9. Cook outside whenever possible. Patio grills are relatively inexpensive. Or you can go to a local park or forest that has public grills or fire pits.

10. Open the curtains and shades and let sunshine warm and light your house. Close curtains and shades in the summer to keep hot sunlight out, or use sheets of removable window tinting. This will cut your electricity use by reducing the need to run your central heat or air conditioning.

11. Use a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time and stovetop temperature, thereby reducing the time your stove is on.

12. Use a crockpot on low to cook long-cooking foods like roasts – it takes less energy to run a crockpot than a stove.

13. Use timers on your lamps.

14. Sweep whenever possible instead of running the vacuum cleaner.

15. Make sure you change the filters in your heating and cooling system as often as the manufacturer recommends.

16. Look into alternative energy sources for your home – you may be able to install solar panels, a small wind turbine, or, in the near future, a magnetic generator to generate electricity. Even installing a small solar panel or wind turbine that will run one appliance will save electricity.

17. Landscape with trees and shrubs that will shelter your home from the wind in the winter and provide shade in the summer.

18. Insulate your water heater. Your power company can probably assist you with this, and may even provide the bubble wrap-like insulation for your water heater.

19. Turn your water heater down to 120. This is also a good protection against accidental burns.

20. Unplug electrical devices when they are not in use, especially those electronics that have a rechargeable battery (if it’s blinking, it’s using electricity).

You don’t have to pour hazardous chemicals onto your yard or garden to kill weeds. Using natural weed killers means the weeds, not you, get poisoned! Here are some ideas of how to rid your yard of weeds without the health risks associated with synthetic weed killers.

1. Salt – Pour about 1/4 teaspoon of table salt at the base of the weed(s). This is enough to kill the weed, but the amount is small enough that water will dilute it sufficiently rather than carrying it to plants you want to keep. This is also effective for gravel driveways. You can sprinkle more copious amounts here, as long as the driveway is not situated so that salty run-off would kill wanted plants.

2. Plastic bags – This is a great way to use (or re-use) black plastic bags. Lay the bags over the weeds and weight them down with rocks, heavy sticks, bricks, etc. After about two weeks, remove the plastic to reveal nearly bare earth.

3. Boiling water – Easy and cheap, pouring boiling water onto weeds is effective. It is so effective, in fact, that you need to be careful not to get the boiling water on any plants you want to keep, including grass.

4. Vinegar – White or cider vinegar can be used directly on weeds, poured over the leaves and into the ground. You can also put it in a spray bottle and add 1/4 teaspoon of essential oil of clove and/or cinnamon per quart. The clove/cinnamon vinegar solution is especially effective against poison ivy.

Whether using vinegar plain or with the oils, you will need to re-apply it every week to ten days for awhile. Vinegar kills only the weed’s aerial parts, and repeated applications are needed to exhaust the weed’s resources so that the root gives out and dies, too.

5. Newspaper – Like the plastic bags mentioned above, newspaper can be laid over weeds and weighted down. Use a full “section” of newspaper so that it is thick. This deprives the weeds of light and air, and the newspaper is biodegradable.

6. Vodka – Vodka works as a weed killer. Mix about 3 tablespoons of it with 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Spray the leaves well with this solution, and the alcohol will dry out the leaves.

7. Borax – This can be found in the laundry section of your local store, and is a kind of salt. Mix 5 teaspoons of borax with 1 quart of water and use as a spray.

8. Manual removal – While this is hard work, simply removing weeds by pulling them out is very effective. You can also use manual removal in combination with some of the above solutions.

If you are dealing with poison ivy, suit up appropriately and cover your hands, eyes, mouth, and nose before attempting removal, and thoroughly launder your clothes afterward. If you have poison ivy growing up a tree, use a sharp saw (such as a bow saw) to cut the hairy stem in half. From the cut upward, the vine will die.

Remember, do not compost weeds or they will find their way back into your garden.

Before you buy a can, carton or bottle of commercial vegetable juice, consider making your own. There is no great mystique to making vegetable juices, and you don’t need an expensive juicer. The following recipes can be made in your blender.

Here are two basic vegetable juice recipes. Think of them as springboards for your own vegetable combinations. Depending on the season and what is available, you can make a healthy vegetable juice any time of year.

Tomato-based Vegetable Juice
Ingredients:
-3 cups chopped, fresh tomatoes
-1/2 cup chopped green cabbage
-1 stalk celery, chopped
-1/4 cup chopped onion
-1 clove minced garlic
-1 small cucumber
-1 teaspoon lemon juice
-1 tablespoon chopped, fresh parsley
-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
-Red pepper, cayenne, or chili sauce to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon)
Optional: 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender and turn blender to high speed (liquefy). If you need to add some liquid, add water a tablespoon at a time.

Green Vegetable Juice
This is a slightly sweeter juice that you can also freeze into popsicles.

Ingredients:
-2 large leaves of kale, chopped (middle stalk removed)
-1 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped
-2 medium apples, chopped
-1/2 cup chopped broccoli
-unsweetened, natural apple juice

Place all ingredients in the blender except the apple juice. Add apple juice to cover the ingredients and blend on high speed until liquefied. Add stevia or raw honey if you prefer it sweeter. This juice is also good with a squeeze of lemon juice.

It is tempting to think that entertainment for children involves spending money or wasteful consumption, but there are wonderful things you can do as a family that are both green and fun. Spending time as a family and getting outdoors are both healthy activities, emotionally and physically. This spring, turn off the TV and computer, and head for the outdoors! Here are some ideas for how you can participate in green outings with your family.

Look to Your Community

Part of going green is using less fossil fuel, so choosing outings close to home is a good place to start. Take a look at your local newspaper, library, or online and find out what events are happening close to home. Perhaps there is an art and craft fair, street fair, or live music. Families can often find things to do together close by. Take a bus if you need to, or include other families and car pool.

Take a Nature Walk or Hike

The whole family can get in on this. Bring a field guide and identify plants, or choose plants or rocks ahead of time to give your family something specific to look for while you are on the hike. In the spring, new flowers and plants are just emerging, so it is a good time to look for flowers that will be covered up with overgrowth later in the summer.

Visit a Nature Preserve or National/State Forest

Preserved lands are an eco-friendly place to visit and play. Depending on where you live, this may be an outing close to home.

Outdoor Adventures

Another green way to enjoy the outdoors is to participate in adventurous activities like white-water rafting or canoeing. Whole families can go rafting together, and canoeing is good for families with older children.

Picnic

The old-fashioned picnic is still a fun way for families to spend time together. Pack your own food and bring drinks in reusable containers. Take a kite along if the spring wind is right, or bring a Frisbee or ball.

Be Prepared

Bringing your own food, drinks, sunscreen, etc. to a family outing increases the eco-friendly factor. Being prepared means you are less likely to stop at a drive-through to buy food with excessive packaging, or go to a drugstore for miscellaneous items you forgot.

Family outings do not have to be wasteful. Take some time to prepare and enjoy the spring weather as a family.