Get Fresh with Sara Snow

This is a show I just happen to catch once and I really enjoyed it! Here is her website. She just published a new book too! :)

Solatube

Since adding on the sun room, our kitchen is so dark. I would love to put in a solatube sometime in the future. This site really explains how it diffuses the natural light and you can also have an electrical option so that you still have light at night! So cool!

EARTH HOUR TONIGHT!!!

From8:30-9:30 turn out your lights!!!
More info at : http://www.earthhour.org/home/

EcoFact Podcast

EcoFact is a fun little site. You can subscribe to their blog, facebook, podcasts...
They have a videos page that was quite interesting!

Phantom Power

Did you know that any electrical appliance that is plugged in and has a display, like a clock, sucks power ALL the time, even when it's not in use?
Put a clock on the wall and pull out the coffee maker and any appliance with a light or a clock in it; any appliance with a clock or a light is eating up phantom power, totaling between five and fifteen percent of your bill.

Community Supported Agriculture?

For many years, I had heard of these programs where you pay a fee and go pick up veggies from a farm or you volunteered your time on the farm and got your veggies at a discount. I am finally going to try it this year! I have found out that my insurance will cover part of the cost too! What a bonus!

Dean Health Insurance WIN program states:
"Healthy Food Focus
Includes community supported agriculture (CSA) membership fees. Members support local farms by paying an annual fee and get a "share" of the season's harvest of fresh produce. Visit www.macsac.org or www.freshfoodwisconsin.org for CSA information."

I have sent off my $365 ($300 will be reimbursed to my family through DEAN) to the Forest Run Farm in DeForest. In mid-May, I can begin to visit the farm on Wednesday nights and pick up my small share of vegetables. I may even choose to purchase some organic eggs for $3.00 a dozen. They have an egg share program, but we are taking baby steps...

I am doing this to be more green and to get food FRESH from the farmer. No chemicals, no hidden fees, no pollution...
If you buy right from the farmer, they don't have to package it up and send it somewhere to be sold to a grocery. All of the transportation costs and pollution from the vehicles that transport it are null. Buy local, support local, eat seasonal (when you can).

Why should you try it?

Cat Litter Dilemma

So, I was watching the show "Stuff Happens" on Green TV hosted by Bill Nye. The episode was on pets. Not only did I learn about biodegradable dog poo bags, but he also brought up some good points about clay cat litter. I have always used it because it clumps and it works well. However, this is what I didn't know:
"Cat owners should avoid clumping clay litter at all costs. Not only is clay strip-mined (bad for the planet), but the clay sediment is also permeated with carcinogenic silica dust that can coat little kitty lungs (bad for the cat). Plus, the sodium bentonite that acts as the clumping agent can poison your cat through chronic ingestion through their fastidious need to groom. Because sodium bentonite acts like expanding cement—it’s also used as a grouting, sealing, and plugging material—it can swell up to15 to18 times their dry size and clog up your cat’s insides."

I have started my transition to a new litter. You can get the first one free!!! I liked that!
It's called Feline Pine. Now, I just began the transition and it takes time. You have to place the new litter under the old and let the old kind of "run out" and mix naturally. Then, supposedly, the cats will just get used to the new litter. I have had it in their box for two weeks now. I will keep you posted!!!
:)

Do you use re-usable shopping bags?

Check out this great resource from Clean Air Gardening!
http://site.cleanairgardening.com/info/reusable-bags.html

It talks a lot about how re-usable bags are the best thing you can use for the environment.
Did you know:

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute.

Californians throw away 294,000,000 pounds of plastic bags every year, or 147,000 tons - enough waste to circle the planet over 250 times.

Some estimate a plastic bag may take one thousand years to decompose. That means a bag thrown away during the crusades, the birth of Constantine, or at the signing of the Magna Carta would just be finishing its decomposition now.

If Californians cut their plastic bag waste in half, it would save over two thousand barrels of oil a day (over 800,000 barrels a year) and keep 73,000 tons of rubbish out of our landfills.

Only 10 to 15 percent of paper bags and 1 to 3 percent of plastic bags are recycled.

We take our bags with us each time we go shopping now. I know that it is "another thing" to remember. BUT - it is such a small thing that EVERYONE could do to make our planet a healthier place. Join me!

Did you know?

You need to take the top OFF your water bottle before you put it in the recycle bin!
The tops are made out of hard plastic that can NOT be recycled. :)