Our Greener Life

Does the thought of swaths of plastic Easter grass and dozens of plastic eggs make the environmentalist in you cringe? Here are some ways to make Easter green without festooning the planet with fake grass!

1. Give your children a decorative cloth bag with a set of child’s garden tools, seeds, or other gardening supplies instead of an Easter basket. A bucket of sand box toys or “nature kit” bag are other alternatives.

2. Choose eco-friendly materials for Easter baskets, such as hemp or jute. Or purchase hand-made, fair trade certified baskets that you can find other uses for after Easter (how about toy storage?).

3. Make your own Easter basket from materials around the house, such as hand-decorated bags, totes, wastebaskets, laundry baskets, etc.

4. Fill the baskets with biodegradable material that can be composted, such as natural straw, hay, moss, or simply grass from outside. You can also shred up the Sunday funnies or colorful scrap paper. Shred some of those colorful catalogues and magazines that come in the mail.

5. Make your own treats for the basket – bake special cookies, cupcakes, and candies.

6. Re-use what you have. Do you already have plastic eggs from last year, from well-intentioned friends, or from your children’s school projects? Glue them onto a round frame to make a wreath. If you already have plastic grass, use it as a base for a centerpiece or creative springtime scene.

7. Decorate using scrap paper and junk mail – cut out bunny shapes and string them onto colorful yarn, or cut out Easter shapes into a chain.

8. For your Easter feast, serve eco-friendly meats such as organic ham and free-range turkey. Serve vegetables from local farmers or from the wild – cooked dandelion greens are an early spring tradition that goes back many years.

9. Dye eggs using natural dyes -mix a tablespoon of white vinegar per cup of boiling water and add onion skins (yellow), red cabbage (light purple), shredded raw beets (deep red), spinach (light green), coffee grounds or tea (brown), etc.

10. Use free-range eggs or, better yet, obtain your eggs from a local farmer or urban chicken-keeper. If the eggs are brown, you can use eco-friendly paints on them instead of dyes.

11. Fill your children’s Easter baskets with enduring wooden toys (such as puzzles, trains, or cars), pocket-sized board games, a deck of cards, dominoes, etc. Take your child’s personality into consideration rather than just giving the “usual” stuffed bunny and plastic trinkets. Then you can build a basket theme around your child’s interests.

All of these ideas will help reduce waste this Easter season.

The green American lawn, with its well-groomed, square patch of grass, can come at an environmental price. Because a lawn that is nothing but grass (all clipped to a uniform length) is a rather unnatural thing, achieving it often means the use of gas-powered machines, pesticides, and weed killers. You can achieve a beautiful lawn, however, without damaging the environment. Here are some tips for caring for your lawn in an eco-friendly way.

1. Use a rain barrel. These handy containers are not hard to hook up – just attach one to your downspout – and you will have gallons of free rainwater to maintain your lawn. A rain barrel will fill up astonishingly fast.

2. Invest in a reel mower. Gasoline-powered lawn mowers are not only noisy; they pollute and, of course, they use fossil fuel. Reel mowers are powered by human muscle, so you’ll get a good workout and a nice lawn. Your neighbors will appreciate the quiet, too. When you do mow, keep the grass clippings on the lawn. They act as a mulch, reducing the need for water.

3. Do more things manually. Americans are trying to get in shape by joining health clubs, but you can work off a lot of calories by raking, sweeping, and clipping by hand. And you will use much less fossil fuel and electricity that way.

4. Think beyond grass. If you have to make a lot of artificial adjustments to grow grass, maybe grass isn’t the right lawn plant for you. Clover, moss, and other interesting plants – particularly native plants – make excellent and beautiful lawn cover. If you plant the right herbage for your area, it will be much easier to maintain, too. Investing in native plants is one way to cut down on invasive species that can dominate and destroy local ecosystems.

5. Consider planting a garden, especially an informal, “English” garden that is meant to look a bit unkempt. You could also be even more eco-friendly and plant a vegetable garden where your lawn used to be.

6. Re-think the weed. Do you battle dandelions, ground ivy, clover, plantain, or other plants considered “weeds”? Take a moment and research some of these tenacious plants and you will probably be impressed with their usefulness.

Plantain, for example, makes a superior treatment for insect bites; dandelions have edible, nutritious greens and beautiful, fragrant flowers that can be used to make wine. Dandelion roots can even be roasted, ground, and drunk like coffee. Once you learn some of the uses for these plants, you may find yourself treasuring them rather than trying to eradicate them!

7. Use natural pesticides and herbicides if you feel the need to eradicate pests or certain weeds. These are generally available even in mainstream garden centers, or you can make your own.

There seems to be a growing interest in earth-based buildings these days. There are several possibilities for the attraction – earth-based structures are eco-friendly, the building material is plentiful, and as the toxic nature of conventional building materials becomes more well-known, many people prefer the non-toxic nature of natural building materials. Poured earth is one type of earthen construction that is enjoying a resurgence.

What Is Poured Earth?

It sounds like a fancy term for mud, but it’s more than that. Like concrete, poured earth uses a combination of aggregate (hard, inert, binding material) and dry cement. Many people confuse the terms “concrete” and “cement” – they are not the same. Cement is a component of concrete, not vice versa.

When concrete is mixed, the aggregate is sand and gravel, which is mixed with dry cement and water. Poured earth uses soil as the aggregate, which is then mixed with dry cement and water. Thus, poured earth is somewhat akin to concrete (not cement).

The soil used in poured earth structures needs to meet certain specifications, which require testing to discern. If you are planning to build using poured earth and your soil does not meet the specifications – say it’s too high in clay – then soil amendments, such as lyme or magnesium oxide can be added to bring your soil up to specification.

How compatible your soil is for poured earth will determine how much cement you will need to mix in – the less clay, the less cement is needed. Mixing in a material known as flyash can reduce the amount of cement you need.

What Else Do You Need?

* You will need some way to pour the earth as you would concrete, such as a traditional cement mixer or concrete pump. Try to rent or borrow one from a local construction company.

* Frames are necessary to hold the poured earth walls as they dry. You can use concrete frames, steel, or wood.

* Plaster, cob, or other finishing material will be needed for indoor and outdoor walls.

Is It Expensive?

Initially, yes, it is a bit more expensive than conventional construction. At this point, poured earth structures are customized buildings, which makes any project more expensive. Bear in mind, however, that poured earth buildings are inexpensive to maintain (more on that below). Also, as poured earth becomes more widely known and utilized, the cost will likely go down as standard types develop.

What Are the Advantages of Poured Earth Buildings?

* Poured earth buildings are extremely durable, comparable to concrete.

* The thick walls of poured earth create a peaceful interior.

* Poured earth is free of chemically-treated wood, synthetic insulation, formaldehyde, and other toxic building materials.

* The durable nature of poured earth means that it is highly resistant to the wear and tear that occur in typical homes. It is very low-maintenance.

* Heating and cooling are aided by the radioative effects of the earthen walls, which have “inherent thermal mass.” They absorb heat and release it gradually, making the internal temperature inexpensive to maintain and far more constant.

* Fast construction is another advantage of poured earth buildings.

Once you construct a foundation, the frames are erected and filled with the poured earth mixture. For extra insulation, some builders will construct a second wall with a space between the two, which is then filled with eco-friendly insulation. After the walls dry and “cure,” you can finish them with plaster or cob (a mix of mud and straw). Then the interior and exterior walls can be painted as you like.

Image credit: www.greenhomebuilding.com

Ever thought of ways to make your computing more environmentally friendly? Since computers, monitors, printers and other miscellaneous peripherals use electricity, you can do so by reducing the amount of energy they consume. This will also save money on energy bills which is always a great thing. Here are some tips to help you do so:

Use an LCD monitor
If you are still using an older CRT model (i.e. the kind that takes up half your desk space), consider replacing it with a new flat panel display. LCD monitors use one third less energy than CRT monitors.

Look for Energy Star peripherals
The same program which is popular for home appliances is available for products such as printers, scanners and fax machines. Energy Star is a program by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy which sets standards for energy-efficient products. By using an Energy Star compliant scanner or printer, you can use as much as 50-60% percent less energy.

Put your computer to sleep
Both PCs and Macs have power saving features built into the system. Basically, this will put your computer into “sleep” mode when not in use. This results in big drop in energy use.

Turn everything off at night
As long as you don’t use your computer as a server, or need to access it remotely, you can simply turn it off at night, or when you’re done for the day.

Stop residual power waste
Did you know that chargers for cell phones, iPods and other gadgets will suck power from the wall even when a device is not plugged in? I had no idea that idle chargers still used power. It is a pain to unplug devices, let alone a monitor or computer (which may be hidden behind your desk). One option is to use a SmartStrip. These devices monitor power use and can tell when items are turned off, or not charging. It then stops sending residual power to the device.

Recycle or donate
Since technology is always changing, you may find yourself with older products lying around after you upgrade to the latest and greatest. Computers and electronics contain many toxic materials, such as lead and mercury, which can leech into groundwater if dumped into a landfill. So, instead of trashing your old computers and electronics, looks for recycling programs in your area, or donate to local schools or charities. Earth 911 has an excellent directory of recycling programs, so do a search for your area.

Your carbon footprint is a measure of the impact your activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced. It is measured in units of carbon dioxide. The Carbon Footprint Calculator will determine your current footprint, based on a number of factors including fuel usage and travel.

There are several things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint:

1. Purchase renewable energy if offered in your area, or install your own electricity generators, such as solar systems to lower your grid usage. Here in Albuquerque, PNM offers the Sky Blue program. This allows customers to purchase New Mexico wind energy.
2. Turn off lights and electrical devices when not in use.
3. Turn down the air conditioning a few degrees.
4. Lower the water heater temperate.
5. Wash clothes in cold water.
6. Hang your clothes outside to dry, rather than use a clothes dryer.

Along with reducing your carbon footprint, you can offset your carbon footprint in a number of ways:

1. Plant a tree. Trees reduce CO₂ by a process known as carbon sequestration. Basically, tress breathe in CO₂ and release oxygen into the air.
2. Purchase carbon offsets from a company such as TerraPass. Your money is used to fund renewable energy projects such as wind farms.

Using these methods, you can reduce your carbon footprint to zero and know that you are doing your part to stop global warming and protect the environment.