Green Choices: Green Mowing

I retired the gasoline mower this week-- no more feeling guilty about lawn care.

I know that small engines pollute even worse than motor vehicles, and have been looking into alternatives.  I chose the Neuton mower, electric powered, with rechargeable battery.

• 270 million tons of pollutants per year are emitted by lawn/garden equipment.  After mowing with a gasoline mower, my clothes and body are saturated with hydrocarbon smell. That means I'm breathing toxins.  Neuton emits no fumes.
• 800 million gallons of gasoline per year are used mowing lawns in the U.S.  Neuton recharges with 10 cents worth of electricity.
• 17 million gallons of gasoline per year are spilled refueling lawn mowers in the U.S.  Neuton uses no gas or oil.
• Gasoline mowers are noisy.  Neuton produces one-fourth of the noise of a gas mower.

Yoga Journal - May Digital Edition Is Free!

In honor of Earth Day, Yoga Journal is offering a free electronic version of the May issue. No paper used or natural resources consumed!  http://www.yogajournal.com/digitaledition

Earth Day Message - "The Art of Mindful Living"

Instead of composing another rambling rant, like last year's Earth Day message (http://vern-running-green.blogspot.com/2010/04/earth-day-2010-40th-anniversary-april.html), I'd like to publish this passage from the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh's amazing book, Peace Is Every Step.  He says it so much better than I can. This is the entire short chapter titled The Art of Mindful Living.

"Nature is our mother. Because we live cut off from her, we get sick. Some of us live in boxes called apartments, very high above the ground. Around us are only cement, metal, and hard things like that. Our fingers do not have a chance to touch the soil; we don’t grow lettuce anymore. Because we are so distant from our Mother Earth, we become sick. That is why we need to go out from time to time and be in nature. It is very important. We and our children should be in touch again with Mother Earth. In many cities, we cannot see trees—the color green is entirely absent from our view.


One day, I imagined a city where there was only one tree left. The tree was still beautiful, but very much alone, surrounded by buildings, in the middle of the city. Many people were getting sick, and most doctors did not know how to deal with the illness. But one very good doctor knew the causes of the sickness and gave this prescription to each patient. “Every day, take the bus to the center of the city to look at the tree. As you approach it, practice breathing in and out, and when you get there, hug the tree, breathing in and out for fifteen minutes, while you look at the tree, so green, and smell its bark, so fragrant. If you do that, in a few weeks, you will feel much better.”

The people began to feel better, but very soon there were so many people rushing to the tree that they stood in line for miles and miles. You know that people of our time do not have much patience, so standing three or four hours to wait to hug the tree was too much and they rebelled. They organized demonstrations in order to make a new law that each person could only hug the tree for five minutes, but of course that reduced the time for healing. And soon, the time was reduced to one minute, and the chance to be healed by our mother was lost. We could be in that situation very soon if we are not mindful. We must practice awareness of each thing we do if we want to save our Mother Earth, and ourselves and our children as well. For example, when we look into our garbage, we can see lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and flowers. When we throw a banana peel into the garbage, we are aware that it is a banana peel that we are throwing out and that it will be transformed into a flower or a vegetable very soon. That is exactly the practice of meditation.


When we throw a plastic bag into the garbage, we know that it is different than a banana peel. It will take a long time to become a flower… That awareness alone helps us protect the Earth, make peace, and take care of life in the present moment and in the future. This is an act of peace, a basic kind of peace action.

When we throw a plastic disposable diaper into the garbage, we know that it takes even longer for it to become a flower, four hundred years or longer. Knowing that using these kinds of diapers is not in the direction of peace, we look for other ways to take care of our baby. Practicing breathing and contemplating our body, feelings, mind, and objects of mind, we practice peace in the present moment. This is living mindfully.

Nuclear waste is the worst kind of garbage.  It takes about 250,000 years to become flowers.  Forty of the fifty of the United States is already polluted by nuclear waste.  We are making the Earth an impossible place to live for ourselves and for many generations of children.  If we live in our present moment mindfully, we will know what to do and what not to do, and we will try to do things in the direction of peace."

Green Choices Wednesday - Buying Bulk

Many stores offer some of their staple items from bulk containers.  This option often reduces packagaing waste greatly. 

Our local store recently stopped carrying one of my favorite cereals, Bob's Red Mill 5-Grain Rolled Cereal wih Flaxseed.  It's like oatmeal, but has a lot of extra whole grains, and I like it better.  It's a combination of rolled whole wheat, rye, oats, barley, triticale and flaxseed.   I like oatmeal, and eat it often, but kept Bob's Red Mill on hand for a change of taste.


If I find Bob's Red Mill at another local store, I'll still buy some occasionally.  However, after looking around, my wife found an acceptable substitute, Sunridge Farms Organic Four Grain Cereal, in the bulk cereals in one of our better local grocery stores. 

Some stores will let you bring your own reuseable container for bulk items.  Our store is set up to dispense into a plastic bag that they supply and then put on their scale; it prints a label with the name, codes and price.  I'm not a fan of plastic bag waste, so we'll just peel off the label and take the empty bag back to refill again.

Green Choices Wednesday - Recycle your Shoes!

Recycle your shoes!

As an environmentalist, I try to minimize my unnecessary consumption of resources and minimize my contribution  to excess waste disposal.  As a runner, I'm concerned that my consumption of shoes is higher than the average person.  It's recommended that runners replace running shoes after 300 to 500 miles.  I've been sucessful in getting as much as 500 miles out of most of mine.  After that many miles, the shoes' shock-absorbing properties are compromised slightly from repeated compressions of the soles.  A runner risks injury by extending shoe use too far.  When I retire a pair of shoes from running, they are still normally in great general condition and have little sole wear.  500 miles sounds like a lot, but worn just for running, for example at 9.5 minutes per mile, they've only been worn about 80 hours.  That's like wearing them at work for two weeks, except that it is more extreme service! I do extend shoe use by wearing my running-retired best condition shoes additionally for casual use, and recently a friend reminded me about the Soles4soles organization.

Soles4soles (http://www.soles4souls.org/) is a non-profit organization that was formed after the asian tsunami several years ago.  They recycle "gently used" shoes by cleaning them and giving them to needy shoeless people around the world.  I've seen shoe collection bins at race events in the past, and recently explored their website.  I found that it's really easy to donate shoes at any time, benefitting both the Earth and people who need shoes.  Using the location finder at http://www.soles4souls.org/about/locations.html, I found that there are two locations within a mile and a half of my home where I can donate used shoes!

In the future, I'll take shoes to these locations as I retire them, rather than wait to donate them at a race event.

Green Choices Wednesday

Today's Green Tip:

Cleaning your dryer's lint filter can slash its energy usage by as much as 30%!

~Source: sierraclub.org

Green Choices Wednesday - Recycle and Reuse

Wednesday-- not only is this the day of the week for my Green Choices feature, it is also the day for weekly garbage pickup in my neighborhood.  When I go for my Wednesday morning runs, I'm usually a little disappointed by sights along the roads.  Many garbage cans are overflowing to the point that the lid won't close.  I don't make a point of looking inside people's garbage cans, but most of the overflowing ones have lots of recyclable items that are clearly visible while just running down the road.  Items like aluminum cans and plastic bottles that are so easy to recycle.  I once read that there are enough aluminum cans in circulation that if every one was recycled, no cans would have to be made from bauxite ore (a heavily polluting process).  Imagine that-- a closed loop system, a continuous cycle of use, recycling and reuse, instead of a linear system of manufacturing, use and landfill.  Seems like systems could be designed to do that with most materials we use, and that, with encouragement, everyone would to participate and make it work.  Maybe I'm naive.

One week per month, there is a pickup where residents can set out larger items.  The city does a good job in some areas.  I know they put yard waste like grass clippings and tree or bush trimmings in a separate part of the trucks and compost it.  They also pick up waste oil left in containers by the curb and send it for recycling.  Most other large items go to the landfill.  The city doesn't do a good job of recyling other items, as there is no curbside collection of cans, bottles, paper, etc.

I regret seeing useable items left by the curb for pickup, like pieces of furniture and miscellaneous household items.  There are good organizations in the area such as Goodwill Industries and the Salvation Army.  They both accept household items that are usable.  They resell them in their stores, and everyone wins.  The organization gains resources to help run their programs.  Donators are able to get rid of unwanted items.  Shoppers in their stores get good, used items at a great price.  And the items get reused.

Every week, the magnitude of waste represented by the overflowing cans makes me sad.  And the magnitude of thoughtlessness involved in generating such waste.  After composting our kitchen and yard waste, collecting all metal, plastic, glass, paper and cardboard to take to local recycling centers, and just avoiding all possible disposable products, we often have just one small bag in the bottom of the huge garbage can that the city supplies.  And I'm not bragging, because it really just isn't that hard.

Think green and live green!  

Green Choices Wednesday

Wow-- It's October already.  The winter holiday season is quickly approaching, which will bring the annual frenzy of shopping and gift-giving.  Many environmental groups are advocating backing away from the buying frenzy for the holidays.  Treehugger.com has a "Slow Holiday" campaign, stressing "taking the time to enjoy the time, to savor the moment." with "gifts...selected for thoughtfulness, longevity, and quality over quantity..."  A variety of green gift ideas may be found at Treehugger: http://www.treehugger.com/giftguide/.

Other groups advocate not buying in to corporate marketers' encouragement to overconsume by participating in a "Buy Nothing Day" on "Black Friday."  Almost every year, there are reports of several shoppers being trampled to death in the rush to be the first one into a store in this competitive buying orgy.

Of course, we all want to remember our loved ones with nice gifts, but it's worth remembering that quality is more important than quantity.  And there are options other than wanton spending.  If you have a talent for crafts, for example, your eco-minded friends would probably greatly appreciate the thoughtfulness, effort, and personal touch put into a handmade gift.

Even a simple process such as gift-wrapping can make a difference.  Every year, tons of holiday waste are generated from discarded paper, bows, and ribbons. 

Here are a few possible gift-wrapping options:

• When you receive gifts in nice wrapping paper, consider unwrapping them carefully instead of ripping them open.  Paper, bows, and ribbons can be reused to wrap gifts you give. 
• If you give a gift in a gift bag, the recipient is more likely to reuse it than throw it away.
• Instead of a paper gift bag, you may consider hand-making a cloth gift bag.
• Reuse attractive household materials.  Many people use pages from the Sunday newspaper comics.  You can also use attractive pages from magazines or paper from a map.

Any of these options will save you money, ease landfill usage, and save trees!

Green Choices Wednesday - More Vegetarian Adventures

As I find additional vegetarian recipes that are exceptionally delicious, I'll try to feature them in Running Green as part of either my Meatless Monday or Green Choices features.  Since about 18% of greenhouse gas releases come from meat production, either adopting a vegetarian diet or simply preparing an individual meatless meal are choices that help the environment. 

Before we recycle our magazines, my wife goes through some of them to see if there are any recipes she wants to save.  In a March issue of Better Homes and Gardens, she found this recipe for "Nutty Meatless Loaf."  We thought it sounded good, and would try it sometime.  Last Thursday, I came home from work to find a delicious aroma filling the house.  We loved it!  It would probably be good enough plain, or with another favorite topping, but we thought the mango chutney added something special to it.

Here's the recipe.  I searched and found the electronic version at:
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/vegetables/nutty-meatless-loaf/

Nutty Meatless Loaf
Ingredients
1-1/4 cups dry red or yellow lentils
2 medium carrots, shredded
3/4 cup snipped dried apricots and/or golden raisins
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1-1/2 tsp. garam masala or 2 tsp. Jamaican jerk seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
3/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1/2 cup mango chutney
1/4 cup chopped red sweet pepper
1/4 cup chopped peeled fresh mango
Cilantro leaves (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In medium saucepan bring 3 cups water and lentils to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until tender. Drain; set aside.
2. In 10-inch skillet cook carrots, apricots, onion, celery, garam masala, and garlic in hot oil over medium heat for 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
3. In large bowl combine eggs, cooked lentils, carrot mixture, brown rice, 2/3 cup of the nuts, half the chutney, and 1 tsp. salt.
4. Firmly press lentil mixture into a greased 9- or 9-1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate. Bake, uncovered, 25 minutes. In small bowl combine remaining chutney with sweet pepper, mango, and remaining nuts.
5. Evenly spoon chutney mixture on loaf. Bake 10 minutes more or until chutney mixture is heated through (loaf should read 160 degrees F). Sprinkle with cilantro leaves. Let stand 15 minutes; cut in wedges to serve. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts
Calories367, Total Fat (g)12, Cholesterol (mg)79, Sodium (mg)496, Carbohydrate (g)53, Fiber (g)13, Protein (g)14, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Green Choices Wednesday - More Homemade Stuff!

We're making homemade yogurt! 

Any food product made at home from fresh ingredients is more enviromentally friendly than it's factory-made counterpart.  Just think of the resources required to operate and maintain a huge factory!  Homemade yogurt requires a very small amount of energy to produce.  It goes into our own reusable containers and doesn't generate plastic waste.  Yes, plastic is recyclable, but in many areas it's difficult or impossible to recycle anything except #1 and #2 plastic.  Manufactured yogurt packaging is typically #5.

In additon to being "greener," there are other advantages.  We have total control of all ingredients, and know there are no additives or chemicals added.  All that's required is fresh milk and yogurt culture, a thermometer, and heating equipment.  We can make a low-fat or no-fat variety just by using 2% or skim milk.  We used skim.  Yogurt culture is available as a dry powder, or any good yogurt with active culture can be used to get the first batch going.  I find the homemade product to be a higher quality, better tasting product, and it is also much less expensive!  Milk is converted to yogurt at a 1:1 ratio.  Think how much cheaper a pint of milk is than a pint of yogurt!

There are lots of yogurt recipes available on the internet.  The process involves heating milk to about 185 °F, letting it cool to 110 °F, adding the culture, and keeping the mixture warm for a few hours while the culture reproduces, thickening the yogurt.  Then it is ready to put into reusable containers and refrigerate.  We like to  flavor it by stirring in fresh fruit or a little homemade jelly or jam just before serving!

It's a common practice to use a double boiler, or a smaller pot inside a larger pot, to heat the milk.  We just carefully heated it in a single small pot, using a low heat setting.  After adding the culture, the mixture may be kept warm by covering with a heating pad.  Some people use a very minimal "low" setting on a crock pot.  One can find special equipment for yogurt making, or just use these common items.  We make small batches and have a small electric yogurt warmer that the yogurt cups fit into.

So, it's really easy, less expensive, better-tasting, healthier, and environmentally friendlier!  What's not to like?

Green Choices Wednesday - Using Your Local Library

Just a simple choice to note today.

Yesterday, I went to our local library branch (only one mile from the house, close enough to run to!), and picked up a library card.  Most environmentally aware people realize that it's greener to read books from the library instead of buying them.  We read most books once, and then they adorn our bookshelves for eternity.  Library books are reused over and over.  There are a few books that are special to us, and we want to re-read them, periodically or even frequently.  Other books may have a smaller readership demand, and the library may not carry them.  Those are  good reasons to buy books.  So, when there's a book I want to read, I'll check the library first. 

I had intended to get a library card since I moved to a different city near the end of last year, but put it off.  This week I read a book review on Callah's "My Yoga Life" blog: my yoga life: The World We Have (a book review), and the book contains an "Earth Peace Treaty" at the end of the book. It's basically a list of possible Earth-friendly activities to which one may choose to commit.  I like lists like this, because I get ideas from them.  Sometimes they are new ideas, and sometimes serve more as reminders that I may want to adopt an activity I'd been considering.  One item on the list was "Use library instead of buying books, as much as possible."  In this case, the list helped to motivate me to overcome my tendency to procrastinate.

My next challenge: develop a plan to overcome procrastination.  Maybe I'll do that tomorrow...

Green Choices Wednesday

Eating Green

Simple processes such as making our daily dietary choices have a significant effect on our environment.  Every day, we have two major choices:  where our food is raised, and which foods we choose to eat.

Food Sources - Eating Local
There are a range of choices relating to the sources of our food.  The distance food travels has an impact on air quality.  Obviously, more greenhouse gases are generated transporting food raised farther away.  Buying locally raised food is preferable to buying food raised far away.  However, few areas have year-around growing seasons, or raise all of the products we wish to consume, so we have to make decisions and trade-offs.  For most of us, the decision comes down to eating foods raised as close to home as possible, and eating foods that are in season as much as possible.  And it's not a black and white choice between local and distant; there are a full range of options in between:

1. Home gardening - the ultimate local source:   This is my favorite.  Every year, I grow fresh vegetables in my garden.  It just doesn't get any more local than my own back yard!  There is virtually no transportation involved; maybe just shipping the seeds.  I use home-produced compost instead of chemical fertilizers.  This has several benefits.  This method doesn't support the environmental effects of production and transportation of chemical fertilzer.  There is no resulting chemical runoff into the local watershed when it rains.  Composting my kitchen and yard waste keeps the waste out of landfills, reduces transportation effects from taking waste to landfills, and provides high quality, fresh, organically grown vegetables. 

2. Locally Raised: Visiting local farms or local farmer's markets are great choices.  Transportation is minimal, and locally raised foods are fresher.

3. Regionally Raised:  Many foods that are not available locally may be available regionally.  Any reduction in distance transported benefits the environment.  Here's an example.  When I buy a bag of oranges or grapefruit, I can usually choose between Texas, Florida and California citrus.  Living in Texas, I look for the Texas fruit.  Reading the labels on bags of various fresh produce often tells us the source of the food.  Being informed allows us to make better choices.

4. Nationally vs Internationally Raised:  There are a lot of options.  Do I want to buy apples from the state of Washington, or from New Zealand?  Big difference in distance.


Food Choices - What do we Eat?
What we choose to eat has at least as big an impact as the source of our food.  Choosing organically raised food is more environmentally sound because it is raised without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.  Grass-fed beef is a better choice than grain-fed beef.  Less meat is better than more meat.  Studies indicate that as much as 18% of all greenhouse gases are a result of meat production.  Grass is the natural diet for cattle.  Cattle raised on factory farms are fed grain, mostly corn, the digestion of which results in more methane generation than a natural grass diet.  Many people are choosing to eat less meat for many reasons, including health, concern for the environment, and concern for animal treatment.  Just as with food sourcing, there are a range of dietary choices:

1. Meat Reduction:  Many people have chosen not to eat meat every day.  There is a popular Meatless Monday movement.  People have chosen not to eat meat one day per week.  If everyone did this, it would reduce enviromental impact by 1/7, or 14%.  Others have taken it a step further and go meatless several days per week.  My family did this for many years.

2. Flexitarian Diet:  This is a term that I only became familiar with last year, as I researched vegetarianism.  A flexitarian eats a virtually vegetarian diet, with only occasional meat.  The percentage of meat consumption is so low that the environmental impact is very close to that of a total vegetarian diet.  "Occasional" is defined by the individual.  It may be weekly, monthly, or even less.

3. Vegetarian Diet:  A no-meat diet, typically allowing dairy products and eggs.  This is my current choice.  Not as strict as vegan.  Dairy and eggs give two good sources of protein in the absence of meat.  Over the years, I trended from reduced meat, to mostly flexitarian, and finally to vegetarian.  After giving more and more thought to my concerns for the environment, and also to concerns about animal treatment, last year, I could no longer reconcile my views with continued consumption of meat.

4. Vegan Diet:  No meat or animal products at all, including dairy or eggs.

So, we face a lot of choices about our diet.  The choices are not black-or-white, all-or-nothing.  One doesn't have to go to the extreme on every choice.  Just think about your choices, make informed choices, and be aware that there is an effect that results from every choice.  The cumulative effect of many people just helping a little is huge.

Think Green and Live Green!

Green Choices Wednesday

Updates on previous Green Choices posts:












On the second attempt, I think we perfected the process of making homemade peanut butter (August 4 post).  The first batch was delicious, but thickened after refrigeration, and was not easy to spread when cold.  We added a couple extra teaspoons of peanut oil to the second batch, and it stayed smooth and spreadable even when cold.  We also like it with a small amount of honey added.  So, we find we can make the equivalent of three jars of peanut butter for about the price of two jars,  the product tastes better, is made from 100% natural ingredients, and is stored in our own reusable container.  What's not to like?  Also, I'm sure we can bring our cost down even further by buying bulk peanuts.

My transition to Green shaving is complete.  On June 30, I posted on the intention to replace canned shaving foam with shaving brush and mug soap, and to replace disposable razors with a reusable razor, either a safety razor or a straight razor.  My July 21 post updated my shaving brush trial, but I had not found a razor yet.  There was no hurry on the transition, because I intended to use the disposable razors I had already purchased.  This week, a friend found me a vintage safety razor at a second-hand sale.  I cleaned and sterilized it and it looks like new!  I picked up some double-edge blades, and it shaves well!  from a Green perspective, I also like the idea of reusing an existing product, like this second-hand razor, for three reasons: it recycles an existing item, it doesn't create demand for the resources and energy required to manufacture a new product, and it cost me $3 instead of $30!

Green Choices Wednesday

Want to learn a lot about green choices?  Check out the No Impact Project!  Consider participating in the next No Impact Experiment beginning August 29, 2010!


I first heard of the No Impact project in October, 2009, and participated in November, 2009.  Follow this link for previous posts about the No Impact Project and No Impact Week.    
Here's the premise of the No Impact Experiment:
"The No Impact Experiment is a one-week carbon cleanse. It is a chance for you to see what a difference no-impact living can have on your quality of life. It’s not about giving up creature comforts but an opportunity for you to test whether the modern 'conveniences' you take for granted are actually making you happier or just eating away at your time and money."

The manual is full of "green" ideas, and the idea is to use the manual as a guide, try things that work for you,  use the process as a learning excercise, and add your own ideas to it.  To me, the greatest value was that it made me pause to consider the impact of dozens of small activities.  The resulting evaluation of activities led me to make many small and relatively easy changes.

Green Choices Wednesday

Green Choices --

We all make hundreds of small choices every day, many without even thinking about them.

This is not a pretty picture.  It represents the choices made by many people as they enjoyed the natural beauty of Village Creek, a local treasure.  It is the newest of the Texas Paddling Trails, as  designated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department:
 http://204.64.0.110/fishboat/boat/paddlingtrails/inland/village_creek/index.phtml.

As I kayaked on this beautiful creek Saturday, I picked 47 aluminum cans and 8 plastic bottles from the water and from sand bars along the creek.  Such a shame that everyone cannot enjoy the gift of nature without leaving trash behind.

I'm sure that none of the readers of this blog, a blog that highlights environmental concerns, would ever consider leaving a piece of litter behind.  That is a green choice, and I applaud and appreciate that.

Several years ago, as I was running on a beautiful wooded trail in a park, I came to a realization.  I occasionally saw a piece of litter on or near the trail, and always thought, "I'd never do that.  Why do people do that?"  One day, I saw a walker on the trail stop, pick up a piece of litter, and take it with him.  That both impressed me and kind of shamed me.  At that moment, I realized that was another choice-- to walk or run past the litter, or to pick it up.  Two levels of choice.  The first choice, to not litter, or to not make a litter problem worse.  And a second choice, to pick something up, and make the problem better. Since then, I put a bag in my pocket when I go to a park to run.

I decided I don't want to settle for not making the world worse.  I also want to leave it better.

                Village Creek, Hardin County, Texas, August 7, 2010.

Green Choices Wednesday - Homemade Stuff!

Homemade Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter-- delicious, great nutrition,  and a great source of protein!

Since going vegetarian last year, peanut butter, one of my old favorites, has become one of my nutritional staples.  Wife and I have also been eliminating as many processed foods from our diet as possible.  Initially, we started buying all-natural peanut butter.  No chemicals or preservatives, no trans-fats or added sugars, typically just peanuts and salt.  Additionaly, we have been eliminating most disposable products and identifying/eliminating many sources of unnecessary containers.

So, this was a natural evolution.  We are now making our own peanut butter.  All we need are peanuts and a food processor.  A small amount of salt and/or added oil are optional.  We're using a little bit of peanut oil.  It helps make the peanuts process a little easier, and makes the peanut butter a little smoother.  For crunchy peanut butter, my favorite, just grind a few nuts separately, and stir them in at the end.  Add a little honey for a sweeter variation.

It's just as tasty as the commercial product, is cheaper, and we have total control of the ingredients!  Like commercial all-natural peanut butter, the oil separates a little in storage, so we stir it before use.

And we can store it in our own reuseable containers instead of adding more plastic jars to our recyling.  Recyling plastic is great, and we will continue to recycle everything we can.  But a practice even better than recyling is to avoid generation of recylables where possible.  This avoids the consumption of resources that the container is made from, and saves the resources consumed in the container production process.

Green choices-- they are everywhere, if we just look for them!  Many of them are so simple!

Think Green and Live Green!

Green Choices Wednesday

Disposable shaving products?  No!

Recently, I posted about eliminating disposable shaving products from my lifestyle.  I researched razor options, and I've decided to purchase a safety razor.  This will eliminate throwaway plastic disposable razors.  The used blades will go into my metal recycling bin.  I haven't yet made a razor purchase, because I still have disposable razors from a multi-razor package, and I will shave with them until they are all used. Discarding them would not accomplish anything.  The resources from which they were made have already been consumed, and there is no bringing them back.  And if there's one thing I dislike more than non-recyclable items, it's waste. 

The other decision I made was to discontinue using shaving foam in disposable cans.This week, my can of foam was low, and I told my wife I wanted to pick up a shaving brush and shaving soap. Yesterday, she went to store and brought me a shaving brush and some inexpensive, drugstore-variety shaving soap to try.

I still have a little in my last can of foam which I will use up, but first I decided to try the brush and soap.  On first trial, I was very pleased with the result.  The soap gave me a better shave with my disposable razor than canned foam.  After shaving, my face felt smoother and softer than after shaving with foam.  And this was from using the least expensive soap option I've seen, so using the specialty soap varieties should be even better! 

I like that the soap just comes in a simple cardboard box that I can add to my paper recycling.   Resources used to transport the soap should also be much less than shipping the equivalent of a much lower volume of  lather in a heavy metal can. Water is a significant ingredient in canned foam.  Anything that can be mixed in the home with tap water avoids shipping water, weighing 8 lbs./gallon, wasting fuel and generating pollutants.  A home mix also avoids shipping unneeded hydrocarbon propellants such as isobutane and isopentane, which are released into the air when the foam is dispensed.

Green Choices Wednesday

Save water by using rain barrels!

We currently have one rain barrel (not the model pictured) that we purchased a few years ago.  Until now, I hadn't reinstalled it since we recently moved.  I'm currently installing it on the eavestrough downspout at the back corner of my garage. 

After that, I plan to install additional rainbarrels on the other downspots and eventually capture rain runoff from the entire house and garage roofs.

Benefits of rainwater collection:

• Saves water- Reduces your water bill and reduces the treatment and pumping volume at your local water utility, saving energy and resources.  On average, about 40% of municipal water usage is for watering lawns and gardens!
• Reduces stormwater runoff into drainage systems.
• Great for your plants - Natural, untreated water!

Some "green" homeowners are installing cisterns to capture and reuse their rainwater runoff.  These are great systems, and have the advantage of much greater storage capacity, but are more expensive to install than the simple rain barrel.

Think Green and Live Green!

Green Choices Wednesday

When packing a lunch, instead of using plastic sandwich bags (made from oil, used once, thrown away), I put the sandwiches in a reuseable container which is brought home, washed, and used over and over!

(One of my staple vegetarian lunch options-- all natural organic peanut butter and blueberry jelly on whole wheat/multigrain bread.  Peanuts (legume) + bread (grains) = complete protein!)  Reducing meat consumption is another green choice that is good for the Earth.  Whether you go vegetarian or just reduce the number of meat-consuming days, it makes a difference!  (See Meatless Mondays feature.)

Think Green and Live Green!

Green Choices Wednesday

Green Shaving

I've been looking for additional opportunities to eliminate "disposable" products from my lifestyle.  The latest thing that's been bothering me is the use of disposable razors.  A disposable razor is just a blade on a plastic handle.  Use it and throw it away.  The problem is that there is no such place as "away."  Everything goes somewhere.  Disposable products convert the Earth's precious resources into trash, one piece at a time. 

I have half of a package of disposable razors left.  I've decided to buy no more of them.  Here are the options I'm considering:

• A system with reusable handle and disposable blade head, such as Gillette Mach 3 or Fusion, or Schick Quattro.  Greatly reduced waste, but still throwing away the blade head.  A better option than I'm using now.
• A classic safety razor.  The head opens, allowing replacement of the blade only.  I could dispose of the used blades with the rest of my metal recycling.  No waste, and fairly inexpensive.  The classic safety razor is making a comeback, and is considered to be a closer shave than possible with a disposable.
• An "old fashioned" straight razor.  At one time, the main method of shaving.  Used by few in recent years, also currently making a comeback.  No waste, but requires a little more investment, $100+ for entry-level models, plus a strop.   Still considered to be the ultimate close shave.  Not to mention the cool factor!

I also understand that traditional wet-shaving glycerin-based shaving soap, as applied with a brush, gives a superior shave compared to shaving foam in a can.  From a green perspective, a shaving mug and brush is reuseable, compared to a can that is used and thrown away.  I plan to look into this also, and discontinue using canned foam.

I'll post again when I have chosen and purchased a new system, along with a review of the system's performance. 

Think Green and Live Green!