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.

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.


These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/.

Healthy News:
Will Broccoli Boost your Lifespan?
[Yahoo! News]

Green Goodness

Loving spring!  There's something magical about seeing the first fruit and vegetables grow, mature and ripen.  The picking of the first tomato is an annual cause for celebration in our household, and this event began in a small way today, with the picking of the first vine-ripened, totally organically grown cherry tomato!

First cherry tomato!  More vegetarian staples coming soon!

The first full-sized tomato-- ready to pick!

Two on this nice cluster are just starting to turn!

Baby green beans!

Cucumbers - blossoming but not quite showing fruit yet.

Cucumbers, beans and squash.

The first baby summer squash!

Peppers and eggplant.

Small bell peppers - won't be big enough to pick for several weeks.

Banana peppers - we've already harvested some of these!

More tomatos!

Baby grapefruit!  Fortunate to get them in this small tree's second year!

Baby lemon!

Basil.  I can taste the pesto already!

Home composting station.  Every leaf raked, every bit of yard waste, every fruit or vegetable peel or trimming, tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc, go in here, and are transformed into brown gold.  With lots of rich organic compost, there is no need for chemical fertilizers.  The plants love it, and happy plants make the best fruit!

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."

Eat Local - Make Every Day Earth Day!

The Thanks to Meatless Monday for passing on this information!

The Eat Well Guide released this cool widget to help people eat local on Earth Day and everyday thereafter throughout the year. Eat Well Guide is a free online directory for anyone in search of fresh, locally grown and sustainably produced food in the United States and Canada. Include the food-finder widget (get the code below) on your website and/or blog, to provide your visitors with valuable sustainable food recommendations. Just type a zip code into the widget to find nearby sustainable restaurants, stores, farms and other producers from a growing list of over 23,000 vendors. Supporting sustainable agriculture is a delicious way to show your commitment to the earth 365 days a year.


Follow this link to copy the code for this or two other widget designs for your blog! http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?pd=Widgets

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.


These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/.

Healthy News:
Want to Sharpen Your Mind? Drop a Few Pounds
[Time]

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.

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.

These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/

Monday Morsels (Source: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/):
The New Haven Independent reports that the town’s elementary and high schools now go MM… Dr. Mary Clifton makes an appeal to Traverse City to pass MM resolution… St. Louis’ Riverfront Times reports that “Meatless Mondays have become a boon to restaurants”… Sean S. Miller, education director at the Earth Day Network endorses MM… popular advice column Earth Talk discussing the history of the MM movement.

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.

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.


These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/

Monday Morsels (Source: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/):
Nancy Lee, Food writer for Maryland’s Frederick News Post asks readers to “looks at why food is more than just the meal in front of us” with her MM article… Students and staff at The University of Florida celebrates MM on campus… Civil Eats sits down with the original MM blogger Kim O’Donnel to discuss meat’s role in our food system… Craftzine creates an inspired MM recipe for Acorn Stuffed Squash with Harvest Quinoa Salad… NYC sustainable food finder Clean Plates praises the MM campaign.

Green Choices Wednesday - Cold Water Laundring

Another simple green choice-- wash clothes in cold water instead of hot water!

• Uses a fraction of the energy - 80 to 90% energy savings!  Saves $$$; saves the Earth!
• Gets most loads just as clean - you may still want to use warm for a few heavily soiled loads.
• Clothes washed in cold water last longer!  Less replacement cost for you, and less demand on resources if fewer replacements are needed.

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.


These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/

Monday Morsels (Source: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/):
San Francisco State University encourages all to visit one of the city’s MM restaurants for Sustainability Week… GreenWala offers their own MM Recipe Roundup with six dishes… Creative Loafing Atlanta writer Cliff Bostock would “love to see meatless Mondays” come to town… Community Voices of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offers an easy, affordable MM meal… Favorite Diets blog suggests cutting back with MM.

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

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.

These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/

Monday Morsels (Source: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/):
BBC radio personality Anne Diamond asks her audience to make Mondays meatless… SecondAct magazine tells readers to go MM for their health, highlighting some celebrities who have already joined the movement… Phillyist offers their MM recipe for Kale, Sweet Potato and White Bean Chili… The Toronto Vegetarian Association reports that two leading mayoral candidates -Smitherman and Pantalone- have promised to bring MM to Toronto is elected.

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.


These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/

Monday Morsels (Source: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/):
The LA Times celebrates MM with a recipe for mushroom quesadillas… Washingtonian.com welcomes Chef Glenn Babcock to the MM movement as he introduces his fall lineup of meatless dishes for D.C. restaurant Nage… The Toronto Vegetarian Society is encouraging action through eating by asking mayoral candidates if they will pass a MM resolution if elected… The blog at Eating Well includes some MM inspiration this week, including links to dozens of plant-based entrees… One student at Irvine Valley College encourages her classmates to try MM with a recent op-ed in The Lariat.

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!  

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.


These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/

Monday Morsels (Source: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/):
The popular food blog Yum Sugar now has a MM group where readers can share recipes… Money management site MintLife encourages everyone to take the MM challenge, offering 7 recipes that cost $10 or less… Plant-based food producer Gardein credits MM for increased awareness about the health and environmental impacts of meat production and consumption… Salt Lake City paper Desert News suggests MM as a way to develop more mindful, sustainable eating habits.

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!

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.


These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/

Monday Morsels (Source: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/):
The movement has officially launched in South Africa, according to iafrica.com… Fitness trainer for ‘The Biggest Loser’, Bob Harper, encourages followers to try MM via Twitter… Barnard- the women’s Liberal Arts College at Columbia- now goes MM… NY Times food columnist Martha Rose Shulman discusses MM as a healthy way of empowering restaurant patrons… The Sustainable Scribe cooks up a pot of veggie jambalaya for the Monday Night Foodbowl


Personal note: Friday, we tried the Baked Orzo Ratatouille that was featured in last Monday's recipes.  We loved it!

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.