Archive for the ‘Green Action’ Category

My previous post covered public transportation and how the gas prices of the day are pushing people to look for alternatives to driving. In this post we will cover even greener ways of transporting oneself.

Let’s look at walking. What happened to the days when people walked everywhere. We have gotten so lazy that the thought of walking to the corner store makes us break out in a sweat. We would rather spend a couple bucks, in gas, so that we don’t have to move so much. But the consequences stemming from our inactivity is catching up with us. Obesity is rampant in our society, look at these Obesity Statistics:

USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic Proportions

• 58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese
• Eight out of 10 over 25’s Overweight
• 78% of American’s not meeting basic activity level recommendations
• 25% completely Sedentary
• 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990

Now that looks scary to me. If we could only understand that regular physical activity is essential to good health and that simply walking can get us there, will benefit our pocketbooks, and is better for the environment too, we’d all be better off.

Another option is something a reader over at Swiss Bikes brought up to me which is the Drive and Cycle commuting option. In situations where it is too far to bike all the way but there is a possibility to drive part of the way and then bike the other part, why not take advantage of that. It kills three birds with one stone. You can take care of your daily dose of exercise, save money on gas and help save the environment.

Again this is something that is commonly done in Europe, where gas prices are double that of the US. In England for example, parking is very popular and sought after. People park their cars somewhere, pull out their fold up Swiss Bike from their trunk and ride the rest of the way on their bikes.

Those are my thoughts on greener and healthier forms of transportation.

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In honor of Earth Day: Take a few Green Steps…

Give the Earth Some Love…

Walk to work or play. With the price of gas these days, taking this step won’t be as difficult as it seemed before. Take a walk on the wild side, walk to work, the grocery store, the library, the kids school. Who knows maybe you will like it, and will continue the trend, it’s not only good for the environment, but also good for your health.

Earth Day Footprint : Want to know what kind of a footprint you are leaving on this earth? Check out the Ecological Footprint Quiz over at Earthday.net, and here is a version of a Ecological Footprint Quiz for Kids over at Kidsfootprint.org

Buy Local but watching what you buy is just as important: If your food comes from afar, you can be sure that energy was spent to get it to you, but also the type of food you eat can make a difference… Check out this article over at GreensSAHM.com ” it’s not so much where your food comes from, it’s what you’re eating.”

Read Green and Make Some Money while your at it: Intriguing book by author David Bach discussed over at TheGoodeLife.com covers 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying)!

Save Gas: Don’t Turn Left: Huh????? Groovy Green has a story on how UPS saves gas…UPS-No Left Turns Allowed

It’s not all about “Good Energy Policy” : Follow the reasoning of the “No Impact Man” for whether Individual Lifestyle Changes will make a difference.

Get rid of those water bottles: give up convenience for the environment. Here are 5 good reasons to give them up on Earth Day… from LighterFootstep.com

Lose those Hazardous Chemicals : Learn to identify hazardous chemicals and replace them with greener, healthier ones that do the job just as well. Clean Green to Stay Healthy and Save Money

Earthday is the perfect day to start a garden, an Organic Garden at that. Here are some great tips for doing just that.

Put the Three R’s to work: How about Reduce,Reuse, and Recycle. Salvage Yard finds are a great place to start putting some Green Style in your home…

Noise Pollution: Imagine a world without noise. GreenLivingTips.com makes some great points on the effects of Noise on the Environment. Make Earth Day your No Noise Day…

Anything you and I can do, will help…

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In case you haven’t heard yet, Lights Out America and Earth Hour are events that started last year where many cities throughout the U.S. and the world turned off their lights simultaneously for one hour. It was a great success and a trend has begun.This year the event will be happening on the same day, March 29th world wide…If you would like to join the Global Lights Out Movement, all you have to do is turn your lights off for one hour on March 29th, from 8-9pm, wherever you are.

Check out all the cities involved: Is your City Involved?

Sponsor a candlelight dinner at home or better yet your favorite restaurant, invite your family and friends. Make it fun… Make it every year, make it more often…

If you’d like to get more involved in this and other projects, Sign up at Earth Hour, Join the world…

Tell your friends…send them this link: Join Lights Out Movement.

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And the winner is Reusable Bags… Have you ever put any thought into the implications of your answer? Now you may say to yourself, what’s the big deal, its just a couple of bags. But the big deal is that millions of bags, paper and worst yet, plastic bags end up in the landfill and rivers and oceans . Not to mention the natural resources that are being wasted in order to make these bags that will more than likely be used only once. Let’s look at the statistic: (source WallStreet Journal/ SFGate)

• A family of four in the US goes through 1500 plastic bags a year
• All together we discard 100 Billion plastic shopping bags in a year
• Less than 1% being recycled
• Plastic bags can take up to 1000 years to decompose
• 490,000 gallons of oil to produce 100 million non-degradable plastic bags
• 4-5 trillion Plastic Bags used Worldwide
• Making paper bags consumes millions of trees and it actually takes more energy to make paper bags than plastic.

Now some cities have started to do something about this problem, by just simply banning the use of plastic bags altogether. San Francisco and Oakland in California, were the first cities in the US to do this, and now a dozen other cities are planning the same. Internationally, Taiwan has banned both the use of plastic bags and plastic utensils. Here’s a list of cities and countries that have already banned the use of plastic bags or are planning a ban. (source: cbsnews.com)

• IN THE UNITED STATES

Cities that have adopted a plastic bag ban:

• Oakland
• San Francisco

Cities Considering action on plastic bags:

• Annapolis, Md.
• Austin, Texas
• Baltimore
• Berkeley, Calif.
• Boston
• Fairfax, Calif.
• Maui, Hawaii
• Malibu, Calif.
• New Haven, Conn.
• Portland, Ore.
• Phoenix
• San Jose, Calif.
• Santa Cruz, Calif.
• Santa Monica, Calif.
• Seattle

• INTERNATIONALLY

Countries that have adopted a plastic bag ban:

• Bangladesh
• China
• Rwanda
• Taiwan
• Tanzania
• Uganda
• Zanzibar

Cities or countries considering action on plastic ban:

• Australia
• Singapore
• London

What about “Reusable Bags” as the first option?

No it’s not a new idea, it’s an old idea, we just went away from it because we became a society of convenience. But it is still a very practical, and a very “good for the environment” idea.

If you pay attention, all the business are jumping on the bandwagon of selling reusable shopping bags. Everybody has them, from your local supermarket, to Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ikea, and other smaller companies that have taken off with the idea of reusable shopping bags and put a twist on it like Chico Bag, who makes them small enough to fit in your purse or glove compartment. Or people like Cyndi at MyRecycledBags.com who takes the time and effort to recycle those plastic bags and turn them into something beautiful and useful. On her site she also teaches people the Craft of making Bags out of recycled materials.

Plastic bags have been around for about 25 years. Which means that our mothers and grandmothers can still remember going shopping, with their own Reusable Bags. If they could do it, I think so can we…

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Prince Charles made a big splash by attending the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi last week, in Greener fashion then most other attendees. He arrived by 3D Hologram.Amazing most attendees, the Prince appeared out of thin air, just like in the movies.The whole 6 minute clip was previously video taped in the United Kingdom. Part of the reason that the Prince decided to show up in his “Green Suit” was a response to British press criticism of his trip to the US last year to pick up an environmental award. By not appearing in person he avoided adding 20 tons of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere.

Musion Systems is the British company that provided this new technology, The Musion® Eyeliner™ is a high definition holographic video projection system allowing spectacular 3-dimensional moving images to appear within a live stage setting using Pepper’s Ghost technology. Eyeliner™ brings dramatic, previously unseen 21st century video film effects to live events, including audiovisual artistic performances, conference or trade show presentations, retail displays and large-scale digital signage.Unfortunately the technology is not at the point where it can deliver “Live Telepresence”, due to data flow constraints. (source: The New York Times)

But it’s coming…Until the technology catches up with Star trek, in the mean time we can take advantage of Broadband and use technologies like Skype and others like it to communicate with business partners and colleagues, without having to get in our cars or Jets.

Check out the Video…

 

abu dhabi Broadband environement hologram teleconfrencing World Future Energy Summit

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Can you imagine a world without offices, a world where people don’t have to commute, where paper and plastics are not so readily consumed, where people did all their shopping from home. Well, there are studies going on to determine how that can come to be in the near future. Broadband, the Internet and Telecommunications will be a big part of a comprehensive energy policy, and may get us there sooner than you think. There is a worldwide push in the direction of expanding Broadband capabilities and other related technologies, to help countries throughout the world reach that lofty goal of lowering the greenhouse emissions before the point of no return.

Here’s a list of how the widespread use of broadband can help the environment:

• Business to Business and Business to Consumer E-Commerce: less energy use
• Telecommuting: less people driving, less construction, less energy use.
• Teleconferencing:less airline travel.
• Reduction in Mail Services: less energy use, less paper.
• Downloading of Music and Videos :Less Plastic consumption.
• Electronic Documents & E-mail: Reduction of Office Paper.
• Shifting of Newspaper & Magazine subscriptions to Online Media: reduction in paper consumption.

This list is only the beginning of the benefits that broadband can bring to the environment. We are lucky here in the U.S. that broadband is so widely available, and yet only 1 out of 2 homes have broadband. When we look into ways on how to reduce our carbon footprint, whether we are an individual, business or governmental entity, let’s not overlook the benefits that broadband can have on energy use and the environment.

Two very interesting articles on this subject :

Broadband Services: Economic and Environmental Benefits

Towards a High Bandwidth-Low carbon Future

 

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The UN has come out with it’s 4th and final report on Global Warming, released today at a session of the IPCC (UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) . The 20 page summary report projects a grim picture of the world due to the effects of climate change . But, also insist that if the governments of the world take notice and do what is recommended in the report than we can avoid catastrophe. The report favors mandatory reductions of greenhouse gases, and will be used as a blueprint for negotiations in Bali, Indonesia, in talks that will be held next month to discuss what agreements will follow the expiration of the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement by 36 nations to lower greenhouse emissions by 2012. The United States, Australia, China and other developing Nations are not participants to this agreement.

The report, put together by the thousands scientists that make up the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, basically are telling us that if we don’t do anything to combat the imminent temperature change than it will be our demise. The world will succumb to droughts, rising sea-levels, flooding of coastlines, melting of the ice caps, and other catastrophic events.

There are the believers and the un-believers in Global Warming. “Global Warming” has become a charged phrase that evokes emotional responses from both sides. Whether or not the science backs up Global Warming and the claims of the believers, let’s just agree that our “Polluting” of the earth is catching up with us and we need to stop. Keep it simple and un-politicized.

Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Environment Program.“What we need is a new ethic in which every person — changes lifestyle, attitude and behavior.”

Read More: WashingtonPost.com:U.N. Global Warming Report Sternly Warns Against Inaction

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Today’s news reported that the average gallon of gas in America will reach $3.00 soon. With the price of gas going through the roof, again, it’s time for a change: No?

What ever happened to the technology that was patented to convert H2O into HHO, that could run a car for 100 miles on 4oz of water. This technology was to change the world or at least the power balance in the world. Could this technology be the end of gasoline as we know it? Imagine a world where the Shieks and the Chavez’s don’t hold the rest of the world hostage.

Luckily the technology has not gone away, it has been patented and in the works is a Vehicle System that will run a car on a Hybrid System of H2O and Gasoline, and so far it is scheduled to make it’s debut in 2008. A totally water powered vehicle is also in the works but it will be coming out some time later.

Denny Cline of Hydrogen Technology Applications, Inc., in Clearwater, Florida have come up with the technology for a Water Powered Car. They have Patented a technology that takes Water (H2O) and brakes it down into HHO Gas or Aquygen (its trademark name). They have also come up with a prototype Hybrid, being tested as we speak, that uses regular gas infused with Aquygen. In trials gas mileage improved 50% adding an extra 200 miles to the gas mileage. They say that an adapter for cars will be available soon, maybe as soon as 2008.

The big thing about this new technology is, that it is very eco-firendly. Once combusted this HHO Gas turns back into Water, making it the “Clean Fuel of the Future” as they have coined it. The lack of pollutants makes it the ultimate alternative fuel and it is getting a lot of interest from Government, Auto and Aeronautical Companies alike.

Could this Technology be the end of Fossil Fuels? Let’s hope.

Check out these Videos…

How the Technology Began

Tanking the Technology to Cars

How the whole thing works

alternative fuels fossil fuels h2o powered cars hho gas klein gas water powered car

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I’m sure some of you remember that famous song by Journey talking about San Francisco. Well the lights went out last night in San Francisco and LA, all in the name of conservation.

Inspired by a similar event staged in Sydney earlier this year, Nate Tyler the event’s organizer, asked residents of San Francisco and Los Angeles to turn off their lights between 8pm and 9pm, and to install one low-watt fluorescent bulb in their homes. Organizers handed out the bulbs donated by PG&E prior to the event.

He also convinced the city’s Business and Political leaders including Mayor Gavin Newsom and the chamber of commerce to go along with the Lights Out Campaign. With that commitment the light went out at the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, The Ferry Building and other city landmarks. Participating restaurants held service by candlelight.

Next on the agenda for the organizers is to go National. The event they are planning is called “Lights Out America” and is scheduled for March 29, 2008. Eleven cities have so far signed up including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Seattle and Los Angeles.

Let’s all get our cities involved.

Put March 29, 2008 on your Calender: Lights Out America

Want to get Involved?

Sign up for a reminder at Lights Out America : Lightsoutsf.org

Read More:SFGate.com:Not quite a blackout, but a good turnout for Lights Out event

energy conservation environment flourecent bulbs lights out la lights out SF

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On October the 15th, a fellow blogger, Cindy from MyRecycledBags.Com put forth a great idea as her action post. The idea is to Craft with recycled materials. I want to share this with you because she has many great ideas of crafts that can be made with a myriad of recycled materials, using plastic bags, bread bags, VCR tape, cassette tapes, old denim, and other recycled fabric to craft with.

Check out her post: Crafting with Recycled Materials

green crafting recycle recycled materials

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Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to make the public aware of the causes of man made global warming.

Both Al Gore and the United Nations Climate Panel will share the prestigious prize for 2007.

The chairman of the IPCC, R.K. Pachauri’s, initial reaction was “I would like to pay tribute to the scientific community, who are the winners of this award. The experts and scientists are the backbone of the IPCC and they provide the knowledge, which has contributed to the success of the IPCC.
I would also like to thank the governments of the world who support and facilitate the
work of the Panel. I hope, as the Chairman of the organization, I am articulating the
sentiments of the entire scientific community in acknowledging the enormous
appreciation implied in the award of the Nobel Peace Prize and this would energize all
the scientists and experts involved in the IPCC to do even more in the future.”

Read More: IPCC

Al Gores reaction, was “I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…” Read More: Al Gore.com

Read More: National Geo: Al Gore, Climate Panel Share Nobel Peace Prize

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Did You Know?

• It takes seven gallons of oil to produce one tire. Five gallons of butadiene and styrene gasoline comprises the substances that tires are made out of, and two gallons of gas are used to generate the energy needed to manufacture the tires.

• Dumping waste tires in non-designated areas is hazardous to our health and to our natural habitat, AND it is against the law.

• An estimated 250 million waste tires are discarded every year.

• If you and your parents perform certain tire maintenance steps such as rotation, inflation, balance, and alignment, you can extend tire life and decrease waste tire generation by 15 percent.

• It is important to recycle your tires because improper disposal/illegal dumping can result in fires that are difficult to extinguish. When tire piles catch fire, the melted rubber generates oil that can pollute surface and groundwater. Furthermore, tire piles tend to collect water creating a perfect breeding space for disease carrying animals such as mosquitoes, snakes, and rats.
• 

How are they recycled, and what are they made into?

In the USA, reusing or recycling tires keeps them out of landfills. When buying new tires, leave your old ones with the dealer. Many communities have designated recycling drop-off centers where you can safely and responsibly dispose of your tires.

The majority of recycled waste tires are used as a source of energy, otherwise known as tire-derived fuel or TDF. When heated in combustion facilities, most notably in cement kilns, pulp and paper mill boilers, and power utility boilers, energy is produced and used as fuel to power these facilities.

Waste tires can also be used to make many useful objects. When all non-rubber material is removed from the tires, rubber chips are left over to make crumb-rubber modified asphalt, which is used to pave highways. Waste tires can also be made into doormats, water hoses, shoe soles, door stoppers, playground and athletic surfaces, non-slip products, sheet rubber for manufacturing products, and artificial reefs for marine life habitats.

Read More: Source of Information: Seminole County/Recycle Tires

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Free Burma Action Day!

International bloggers gathering today in support for the peaceful revolution in Burma. We want to set a sign for freedom and show our sympathy for these people who are fighting their cruel regime without weapons.

Make A Difference: Make a donation to the Democratic Voice of Burma

 

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Have you ever noticed how much trash is created by all the packaging that comes with every new item we buy. Have you noticed how many things we throw away that could be otherwise used.

• Buy items in bulk from loose bins when possible to reduce the packaging wasted.
• Maintain and repair durable products instead of buying new ones.
• Buy products that you can reuse.
• Avoid products with several layers of packaging when only one is sufficient. About 33 of what we throw away is packaging.
• Check reports for products that are easily repaired and have low breakdown rates.
• Reuse items like bags and containers when possible.
• Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones.
• Use reusable plates and utensils instead of disposable ones.
• Use reusable containers to store food instead of aluminum foil and cling wrap.
• Shop with a canvas bag instead of using paper and plastic bags.
• Buy rechargeable batteries for devices used frequently.
• Reuse packaging cartons and shipping materials. Old newspapers make great packaging material.
• Compost your vegetable scraps.
• Buy used furniture (sometimes called Antiques)- there is a surplus of it, and it is much cheaper than new furniture.

Use the 3rs of the Environment: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

conservation recycle reuse/reduce/Recycle

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Earth Saving Tips from

PULLING THE PLUG ON SPRING-CLEANING “E-WASTE”

If your spring cleaning turns up unwanted computers, TVs, or other electronic equipment, you’re not alone. Consumer electronics are a fast-growing portion of America’s trash. More than 3.2 million tons of electronic waste is laid to rest in landfills each year. And 250 million more computers will become obsolete between now and 2005 — not to mention countless other electronic goods.

When thrown into a landfill, computers, printers, cell phones, fax machines— even portable CD players and electric toothbrushes — can leak lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, selenium, chromium, and many other toxic materials into drinking water, where it can threaten our families’ health.

There are many resources to help you keep “e-waste” from harming ourselves and the environment:

Reusing electronic equipment is the best use. If you can’t reuse the equipment yourself

— for example, turning an old personal computer into a server for a household network — try donating it to a school, social service organization, or other nonprofit organization in your community. (Be aware that many groups don’t accept older or nonworking equipment.)

Recycling keeps e-waste from landfills. Most communities have recycling services available, including both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Seek a recycler carefully. The best ones dismantle equipment, saving reusable parts before turning the remainder of the equipment into recyclable scrap. Avoid “recyclers” that ship e-waste overseas (usually to Asian countries) where it often is burned, polluting poor communities with toxic smoke.

Here are some things you can do to help reduce e-waste:

Stop thinking of used electronics as “junk.” Just because you have outgrown something, it isn’t worthless. Even if it is no longer satisfactory for you, your computer may be of use to others.

Keep e-waste out of landfills. If you cannot find ways to donate equipment, locate recycling resources in your community. Check the phone book, the Internet, and local government agencies.

Don’t do it yourself. Don’t crack open electronic equipment on your own. In addition to the hazardous materials they contain, some equipment carries an electrical charge long after being unplugged. You could get a dangerous or deadly shock!

Encourage electronics manufacturers to adopt take-back programs.

The best way to minimize e-waste is to make it easy for consumers to send equipment back to the factory for recycling. Call or write manufacturers asking them to do this.

RESOURCES ON THE WEB

Here are Web-based resources that can help:

Nonprofit donations:

• www.usedcomputer.com/nonprof.html

• www.sharetechnology.org

Recycling Directories:

• microweb.com/pepsite/Recycle/recycle_index.html

• www.earth911.org

More Tips:

• http://g2bgreen.com/green-to-do-list

 

“Earth Share, a federation of America’s leading non-profit environmental and conservation charities, promotes environmental education and charitable giving in workplace employee campaigns. For more tips or to find out how your workplace can help the earth, visit www.earthshare.org or call 1.800.875.3863″

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The Locavore movement originated in San Francisco and has spread coast to coast as more and more people look for ways to cut down on the resources used to grow and transport the food we eat. Instead they choose to buy locally grown foods that also support Local Farmers. This is a great idea and if it really catches on across the country it would really cut down on the resources used by the trucks and trains to transport all the foods that we find in our supermarkets. Of course it would also limit the variety of foods available in each region of the country. Everything can not be grown everywhere. Every region has its own weather, and can only sustain certain types of fruits and vegetables. But it helps to use what Local Farmers have to offer.

Some folks, “Extreme Locavores “, go even as far as growing everything themeselves, including the animals they eat. One man in Brooklyn, New York decided that he would try being one of these people and set out to create his farm in his 800 sq ft. back yard in Brooklyn. But his attempt to eat only what he grows, turned out to be harder and more expensive that originally thought.

Read More: news.yahoo.com/: New Yorker pushes limits of the”locavore” life

eco friendly green movement local farmers locavore locavore movement

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Most of us have the basic ingredients for making our own Eco friendly cleaning products already in our cabinets, we just don’t know how to put them together.( source: Home and Garden Magazine: Living Green/ and Recipes from Green Clean)

• Baking Soda:
  
  • Can be used for scouring, and it’s a natural deodorizer. It works best at cleaning grease, proteins and Animal messes.
• Distilled White Vinegar:
  Can be used to clean soap scum, dissolves scale and works well on mold. It also works well on stains from coffee, tea and rust.
• Soap:
  • Castille Soap made with Olive Oil or Vegetable based soaps attach to soil at the molecular level.
• Recipes:
  • Soft Scrub:Mix a 1/8 cup of Baking Soda and soap to a creamy mixture.
  • Appliance Cleaner: Dry Baking Soda will shine up small appliances.
  • Toilet Cleaner/ Deodorizer: Put 1/4 cup Baking Soda and 1/4 cup Vinegar into the bowl and clean with brush.
  • Oven Cleaner: Sprinkle Baking Soda on stains in oven the sprinkle with water. Let sit for several hours or overnight. Then scrub out stains and rinse with water.
  • Hardwood Floor Cleaner: Mix a 1/4 cup of Vinegar with one gallon of warm water. Mop wood or linoleum floors then rinse out.
  • Glass Cleaner: Mix equal parts Vinegar and Water and put in a spray bottle. this mixture can also be used for cleaning countertops, lightly soiled range surfaces and backsplash areas.

eco friendly cleaning products homemade cleaning products

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Friends of mine built their dream house in Florida not too long ago. They have a couple of acres and a huge pond in front of their house. While at their house I noticed that they have an extension attached to the ends of the gutters that goes underground. Now I found that rather strange, so I asked where that water was ending up. They told me that when they were designing the house they thought about how they were going to maintain the pond water level up, so they decided that diverting the rain water to the pond would be a good way to help do that. They had an extra expense while they were setting up the system, but now can capture all the rain water that comes their way. Not a bad way to recycle rain water.

It occurred to me that there must be many re-uses for rain water. Here are a few of the easier ideas to implement. These come especially handy in those areas throughout the country where there are water restrictions due to dryer weather.

Other ways to recycle rain water is to divert the water into rain barrels and then reuse the water for you garden, cleaning or even flushing your toilets. It can also be used for drinking but would have to be filtered and that requires a cistern and several filters and a purification system, not an easy or cheap process but it can be done. For now we’ll stick to the easier ones.

For Garden Use:

If you use a rain barrel you can attach a faucet to the bottom and then attach a Soaker Hose to the faucet. Place the soaker hose around the plants you want to water and turn the faucet on, this system uses gravity to drain the water. Several rain barrels around the house should water the majority of your garden.

Read More: Build your own Rain Barrel System

For Cleaning:

The water can be used for cleaning projects around the house: Washing your car, hose down your driveway, paths and patios, clean out the gutters, it might even work with the faucet attached to the rain barrel and a power washer? (Not sure, but maybe worth a try)

For Flushing Toilets:

Another way I found out where rain water could be recycled, is to use it to flush toilets. Here’s a site that shows how to do this.

Rain Barrel to toilet installation

If you’ve discovered other ways to recycle rain water, please share them with us.

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John Muir left as his legacy an enduring spirit of respect for the environment.

It should be our goal to leave the same Legacy for our kids. How do we teach our kids about the environment, and how to take care of it. Obviously, first and foremost by example. But there is a site that can help explain about the environment and how we impact it in a fun way for kids. The EPA has a site for kids, that teaches them all about climate and weather, Greenhouse Effects, Global Warming, the History of Climate on Earth, our impact on the environment, and what we can do to make a difference. It’s an interactive site full of Fun Facts and Games and Quiz’s and Animations, Interactive Storybooks you can download, they even have an area for Teachers Tools.

All this and more can be found at the EPA’S Environmental Kids Club

The EPA Climate Change Kids Site

Happy Earth Day Coloring and Activities Book

On the Trail of the Missing Ozone

Recycle City

EcoKids Online

 

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I know, it’s hard to believe but there are still cities out there that don’t have a recycling program. I know this for sure because my brother lives in one of those cities. Every time I go to his house and see what goes into the garbage, my heart breaks. I thought that maybe we could collectively do something about this. Let’s see if we can make some noise.

If you live in a city that still does not have a recycling program. Send your city the message: “We Want Curbside Recycling”

You can easily find your City’s Website by typing the city’s name followed by .org or just Google it! Or just simply click on the icon and it will take you to a city directory.

If your city doesn’t recycle leave a comment here with the name of the city you live in, and we can all send them a message and I will list them on one the “GREEN LISTS” pages.

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