Leave Those Leaves

Tired of raking and bagging the fallen leaves?  Are you going deaf from the leaf blower?  Then leave those leaves.  The leaves will decompose over the winter and help fertilize your soil.  Any leaves that are not decomposed in the winter will eventually break down over the spring.

If you insist on a tidy yard, rake the leaves into your flower beds.  The leaves make a great mulch in the spring.

Benefits:       No green house gases from leaf blower usage.
                     Your soil will not need synthetic fertilizer.
                     The leaves will not need to be shipped away by your garbage company, reducing the
                     carbon emissions.

Drawbacks:  Your yard may look untidy until the leaves decompose.
                      If the leaves are too thick, rain water may not reach the soil.

Meatless Monday Menu Week 7: Creamy Garlic Dressing

Buy local vegetables, dress up your salad, and shrink your carbon footprint.  During this time of year, there are many varieties of vegetables that are in season.  Head out to your local farmers' market and choose your salad ingredients.

If you are looking to give your salad a dressing, try making your own.

Creamy Garlic Dressing:

Ingredients

3 Tbs plain yogurt or sour cream
2 tsps garlic powder.  Minced garlic works well also.
1 1/2 tsps Italian seasoning or herbs
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions

1.  Place all the ingredients in a bowl.  Mix with a fork and it is ready to serve.

2.  Adjust ingredients according to taste.  We are garlic lovers so we tend to add extra garlic.

Skip the meat, eat the salad, reduce the CO2.

Repurpose with a Purpose: Old Charcoal Grills

With hamburgers, ribs, and brats teasing our imagination, we purchased a charcoal grill six years ago.  During the first few summers that we had it, we used it a few times each year.  I always stored it in the shed when it wasn't being used and cleaned the grilling surface before and after using it.  Over time, the grilling surface rusted, and there was no way I was going to prepare food on that.

So it sat in the shed, year after year, until a few days ago.  While it isn't the most environmentally friendly activity, we would like to roast marshmallows over a campfire once or twice a year.  Although we kept our eyes open at garage sales for raised fire pits, no one was parting with them.  While I was cleaning out the shed, I figured it was time to do something with the old grill.
 
If you are planning to have a campfire, use locally sourced wood or charcoals, ideally cut from dead trees and not living ones.  If purchasing wood, be wary since the wood may harbor pests, such as the emerald ash bore, and could encourage deforestation.

While a campfire creates carbon emissions, it is a way to dispose of diseased tree branches.  If you compost or shred the diseased wood, the disease can survive and spread to other plants.  By burning the diseased portion of the wood, you can eliminate the disease, have a campfire, and create woodash that you can use with your compost or to melt ice on the driveway. 


For a project like this, you need some tools and about half an hour.

Tools:
Phillips Screwdriver
Tape Measure
Hacksaw
Leather Gloves
Rasp (optional)

1. To begin, unscrew the handles and hinges that hold the lid on.  The lid, handles, and screws were fairly beat up so they were placed in recycling since I didn't have a plan for there use.  

2. Next, you'll be shortening the legs with a hacksaw.  For my grill, I kept six inches of each leg and recycled the rest.  I wanted to keep the ash collecting can that is underneath the grill to help increase airflow with the fire.  The cut edges of the legs may be sharp or have burrs on them.  If you wish, you can file them with a rasp.

3. Now you're ready for a campfire.  Use it only outdoors in open areas.

Meatless Monday Menu: Week 6

Our Meatless Monday Menu dinner for this week is a delicious vegetable lasagna.  You can build this dish around local, in-season vegetables.  While not consuming meat will lower your carbon footprint, using locally grown vegetables will further minimize your carbon footprint.  Here's how we did it.

Ingredients: 1/2 box of no boil lasagna noodles
Your favorite pasta sauce. The amount varies depending on the amount and type of vegetables you use.
2 cups of cottage cheese
1 egg
2 tbs of olive oil
2-3 tsps of dried Italian herbs
8 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese
Olive oil for greasing the casserole dish
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan cheese

Vegetables: We used the following but feel free to try different vegetables or combinations.
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red onion, cut into roughly 1 square inch pieces
2 sweet peppers, cut into strips
10 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 eggplant, sliced

Directions:
1. Wash and cut vegetables.  Place the olive oil in a large a skillet and heat until hot but not smoking. Add garlic and onion and cook until tender stirring occasionally.  While it is cooking, grease a large casserole dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. When the garlic and onion is tender, add your other vegetables to the skillet, stirring frequently.  Season with salt and pepper. While the vegetables are cooking, place the Italian seasoning, egg, and cottage cheese in a bowl and stir.

3.  Once all of the vegetables are tender, its time to add your favorite sauce.  Ideally, you want the vegetables to be well coated with sauce, but not drowning in a skillet size swimming pool.  Simmer the sauce and vegetables for a few minutes.

4. Now for the fun part, assembly.  If you use no boil noodles like I did, do not, under any circumstances, not even as part of a five dollar bet, put the noodles on the bottom of the casserole dish.  (They will just be very hard and you will have an odd lasagna like pie with a hard crust.)
Place some of the vegetable mixture on the bottom, then cover the mixture with noodles.  Then cover the noodles with the cottage cheese mixture.  Repeat the pattern until you run out of the vegetable mixture.  The final (top) layer will be covered in mozzarella cheese.  We like to sprinkle some parmesan cheese in with mozzarella on the top layer.


5.  Then bake for around 35 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.  Don't burn your tongue, let the lasagna cool for about ten to fifteen minutes before serving.

Befriending Beneficials

It's one of the biggest insects I've seen outside of a museum in quite a while.

"What the --!?"  This afternoon, that phrase sprang forth as I stopped down to pull out a plantain that was growing by my strawberry patch.  There, resting on a strawberry leaf,  was a large dragonfly of a kind I had never seen before.  I'm not an expert but I think it is a common green darner. Normally, I'm comfortable with Midwestern insects as long as they are not crawling on me, but the surprise of seeing a large insect unexpectedly near my hand did startle me. 

Once I recovered from my surprise, I quickly grabbed the camera and had the kids come take a look.  They of course wanted to touch it, despite my admonishments stay back a bit and not scare it off.  After continuing to edge closer, the dragonfly became uncomfortable and flew off. 

Without thinking, people sometimes freak out or grab the insecticide when they see any insect.  But really, not all insects are harmful.  Dragonflies, like bats and earthworms, are a beneficial species that should be welcomed into your garden and yard.  They prey on mosquitos, flies, and other insects. 

How can you encourage beneficial species to help you?  First of all, become familiar and comfortable with different beneficial species.  While you may not want them inside your home, in the outdoors, they can be extremely helpful controlling pests and/or pollinating flowers.  Gardening books and websites can help you identify some species.  You can also use your cyber-sleuth skills to identify unknown species that you find. After all, it is important to know whether that little creature crawling on your prize tomatoes is going to eat the plant, is just visiting, or is providing a benefit to the garden.

Ok, you're comfortable knowing the black and yellow orb weaver by your backdoor is not going to jump on your face and drag you back to its lair.  What do you do when you have trouble with pests or weeds in the yard or garden?  First, take a deep breath, and assess how bad the problem is.  Ideally, you want to avoid reaching for the pesticide and carpet bombing the whole place with "who knows what this will do to everythingcide."  You and your family might even be exposed to the pesticides as well.  If the problem is out of control, chemicals may be necessary, but think of it as your last resort.  Spraying everything will not only harm the pests, but it can also harm beneficials that call your piece of property home.  If the beneficials are wiped out, you have even less protection if the pests and weeds come back.  And lets face it, pests and weeds usually do. 

Great!  Your thumb is no longer resting on the big red pesticide nuclear button.  What else can you do to help those great beneficials?  Consider setting up micro-habitats for them. If you want frogs or toads to help control insects, they are going to need a nearby water source.  Birds may need a safe nesting site while other animals may need a place such as small brush pile to hide in when they rest. 

Good luck encouraging Mother Nature to help you in the outdoors.  A little assistance from us can help beneficial species prosper. 

Repurposing with a Purpose

Many of the things that we have around the home and yard are not made to be permanent.  Fortunately, a better solution is available instead of tossing things into the trash can, or even the recycling bin.  Repurposing can help you can find a new life for old items, thus reducing our contributions to the landfill and the necessary energy used for recycling.  When it comes to repurposing, our only limitation is our creativity.

How often should you replace your toothbrush?  The American Dental Association recommends every three to four months.  Those old toothbrushes may not be good for your teeth, but they are still fantastic for other purposes. 

Old toothbrushes are fantastic for cleaning between cracks and in hard to reach places.  Grime often builds up around fixtures to sinks, bathtubs, and toilets.  A toothbrush, with a solution of vinegar and water, can clean around those fixtures as well in the grooves between the fixtures and surfaces.  You can also use a toothbrush to clean exhaust fans in the bathroom, the grill-work under the refrigerator, vacuum filters, and the inside of the clothes dryer. You can even use a toothbrush to remove the silk from corn.

Since you are replacing toothbrushes fairly frequently, you can easily accumulate enough old toothbrushes that they can be specialized.  And truthfully, you probably don't want to use the same old toothbrush on your toilet and kitchen sink.  I mark the handle of each of my repurposed toothbrushes with a certain kind of tape: duct tape for the filters and fans, clear tape for the toilet, one stripe of masking tape for the bathroom sink, and two stripes for the kitchen sink. 

What great uses do you have for old toothbrushes?

Water Conservation in the Shower

How much water do you think is used by showering in the United States annually?  According to the EPA, that figure is 1.2 trillion gallons.  Reducing the amount of fresh water you use in the shower can be very simple, and important.  The Earth Policy Institute states that water tables are, "falling under the Great Plains and throughout the southwest."  Water shortages could occur if the water is used before the water tables have a chance to replenish.

Installing a low flow showerhead can drastically lower your water usage.  Showerheads with a water sense label use a maximum of 2 gallons of water per minute (gpm) while standard showerheads use 2.5 gpm.  Comparing the two figures, a low flow showerhead saves at least half a gallon of water each minute.  While half a gallon may not sound like a lot, imagine if everyone in your community had low flow showerheads.  That would result in a lot of water saved everyday.

Installing a low flow showerhead is a great start, but to save additional water, more or perhaps less, needs to be done.  Quite simply, showering for shorter periods of time.  A low flow showerhead does not help conserve water if you stand under it until the hot water heater is drained.  Before you step into the shower, make a goal of showering in less than a certain time.  An egg timer or stopwatch app can also help you know when it is time to start drying off.

A final suggestion for saving water is to temporarily turn off the water while you wash and shampoo. While scrubbing and lathering, you don't need the water running.  In fact, the water could be rinsing some of the soap or shampoo off of your hands while you wash, causing you to require more soap and shampoo.  When you are done washing, simply turn the water back on and rinse.  I've found that turning the water off is quite easy with showers that have a single handle.  Showers that have hot and cold handles are trickier to turn back on since it can be more difficult to correctly adjust the heat of the water.

What tips do you have for saving water in the shower?  We would love read your comments.

Meatless Monday Menu: Week 5

As promised, this week we have a meatless breakfast option, homemade honey peanut granola, which we found on Allrecipes.com.  This by far, is one of the favorite breakfast choices for my family.  When I make it, I double or triple the recipe so that we better utilize the oven.  Plus, I have a fear that the granola will be completely devoured in one sitting so having extra alleviates that concern.

This recipe is best made the day before you plan to eat it since it bakes for an hour and needs to cool as well.  Like many recipes, I treat them as suggestions and often tinker with the ingredients or directions.  I have never peanuts but added sunflower seeds this time.  In the past, I've also added flax seeds and pecans, which are my favorites.

Ingredients:
3 cups quick oatmeal
1/2 cup nuts or seeds
1/4 wheat germ
1/3 cup honey: We like to purchase honey from our farmers' market.  You can buy local and select the type of honey.
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoon warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
We prefer to omit the salt from the recipe.

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.  Lightly grease a large casserole dish. Tip: I save the wax paper wrappers for butter when I have used up a stick of butter.  Then when I need to grease a pan, I rub the inside of the wrapper onto the pan.  Because of this, I really don't use the vegetable spray cans, cutting down on waste.

2. In a large bowl, combine the liquids and brown sugar.  Then add the oats, nuts, and wheat germ, stirring with each addition.

3. When the dry ingredients are thoroughly coated, spread the mixture out on the greeased casserole dish.

4. Bake for one hour, stirring every fifteen minutes.  I use a metal spatula to scrape the bottom of the casserole dish when stirring.  You want to avoid having the granola stick to the pan.

5.  After the granola is finished baking, set it out to cool.  Stir it occassionally as it cools.  Store in an air tight container.

What do you like to serve with granola?  We add dried fruit or fresh, seasonal berries.

Four Rs and an M?

What exactly are the Four Rs and an M?  Many of us have heard of the original 3 Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle.  These are actions that can greatly decrease the harmful effects that human beings have on the environment.  In 2011, 250.4 million tons of trash was produced in the United States alone.  Reducing, reusing, and recycling will help lower that total but the additional R and M will help lower it even more.

But what about the new R?  Well, it stands for repair.  By repairing an object, you can shrink the amount of waste that enters landfills or is recycled.  Often, when an object needs to be fixed, a small component is broken.  The rest of the object works fine.  For example, a few weeks ago, our sliding glass door stopped latching shut.  The door was fine except for the mortise lock.

After a watching a couple of videos on youtube.com, I felt confident that I could repair the door.  All I needed was a new mortise lock.  Twenty-five minutes later, the door latched properly.  What's great is that we did not need to replace the whole door, just the lock.  The old lock was then placed in recycling.  If we had replaced the whole door, that would have created more waste and it also would have required more resources and energy to make a door instead of just a small locking mechanism.

So the fourth R is for repairing.  What does the M represent?   Maintenance, which can prevent repairs from being necessary.  A simple way of thinking of the importance of maintence is with an automobile.  If you don't maintain the car by having the engine oil changed every 3000 to 5000 miles, the engine will eventually stop working properly or even stop working altogether. When that happens, you may have to repair the engine or replace it. Instead, routine maintanence can help the engine last much, much longer.

While we should always try to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Maintaining and repairing our possessions will reduce the amount of waste generated while simultaneously lowering demand for new objects, all of which require energy and resources.

Do you have any repair or maintence tips?  Please share.

Meatless Monday Menu Week 4

It's time to shrink our carbon footprint a bit and have a great meatless meal.  Tonight we had noodles and tofu in a peanut butter ginger sauce.

I enjoy cooking (actually eating) but one of my weaknesses is with making sauces.  Most of my expeience with cooking and sauces has been opening up a jar of something.  The sauce tonight was quite easy to make.

Ingredients
Sauce
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup soy sauce
2 tsps ground ginger
8 green onions sliced
1 cup peanuts
1 tbs of honey

Pasta
1 pound of pasta
1 package of tofu, rinsed and cut into 1 inch cubes.  We used organic since soybeans can be heavily treated with pesticides.

2-3 tbs of olive oil

Directions
1. Peel and mince the garlic and set aside.  Then wash and slice the green onions.  Set aside.
Tip: I used scissors for the green onions.  My knives tend to shred the delicate green onions.

2. Prepare the tofu.  Then heat the olive oil in a skillet until it is hot but not smoking.  Add the tofu cubes and use a spatula to toss the tofu periodically.  Begin boiling the water for your pasta as well.  Add the pasta when the water boils.

3.  While the tofu is cooking and the pasta is hopefully not boiling over, it's time to make the sauce. In a good size bowl, scoop out the peanut butter and honey.  Then add the hot water and stir using a fork.  It might not look too appealing at this point.  Then add the soy sauce, and stir.  You may want to use a spoon since the peanut butter can settle or stick to the bottom of the bowl.  Finally, add the ginger and garlic and stir some more.  Don't forget to check on the pasta and tofu.

4.  When the pasta is ready, drain the pasta and place it into a large bowl.  Add the cooked tofu and sauce and mix everything together.  The sauce can be somewhat runny so pull some of it up from the bottom of the bowl to help mix.  Finally add the green onions and peanuts.  If you wish, you can stir these in with the pasta.

Enjoy this protein rich, meatless meal and way to go cutting your carbon emissions.



Next week, we'll profile a meatless breakfast recipe.

How Big Is Your Carbon Footprint?

What is a carbon footprint and what does it matter how big it is?  Well, your carbon footprint is an estimate of how much carbon dioxide and methane, two greenhouse gases, are produced by all of the actions a person does.  The estimate of a carbon footprint also includes all of the objects that a person buys that require carbon to make and ship. So if I take a trip on a plane, carbon dioxide is produced by the burning if the fuel.  If I buy a new toaster, carbon dioxide is generated to gather the raw materials, ship them to a factory, make the toaster, send the toaster to a store, and to take it home.

Does size matter?  Yes it does and the larger the footprint, the larger the problem is.  There are many ways to shrink your carbon footprint, but first you should find out about how large it is.

Try one of the online calculators below.

Nature.org highlights areas such as home energy.  It also includes the world and U.S. averages.

The EPA also has a carbon footprint calculator.  Make sure you have an electricity and heating bill handy since they ask for an estimate of your monthly heating and electricity usage.  They also provide a list of suggestions to decrease your carbon emissions.  

The Oregon Carbon Calculator shows how you compare to similar households.  It also suggests ways that you can improve your carbon footprint.

Once you've estimated your carbon footprint, it's time to take action.  The actions you take and the purchases you make have an effect on the health of the planet.  

Meatless Monday Menu: Week 3

Today's meatless feature is a homemade basil, red onion, and mushroom pizza.  And let me tell you, it was delicious.

Quite a few years ago, I used to subscribe to Time magazine.  The April 9, 2007 Global Warming Survival Guide edition really caught my attention.  We had recently had a winter which was the warmest in my lifetime and I thought, "this is real and something needs to be done."  Fortunately, there are many practical suggestions that I have tried to incorporate into my own life.

Number 22 is the reason why I am doing the Meatless Monday Menu.  When I was younger, almost all of my lunches and dinners would have meat, lots of meat.  Knowing the impact that eating meat has on our planet, I eat less, less meat.  My goal in with these posts is to provide meatless meal ideas that taste good and are nutritional as well.

Tonight's meatless meal can be as simple or fancy as you like so feel free to modify the recipe.


Ingredients:
Pizza dough from a store or homemade pizza dough.  We used Jay's Signature Pizza Crust Recipe.
Olive oil for greasing your pizza pan or stone
Your favorite pizza sauce.  We used sauce from Trader Joe's
Mozzarella cheese

Toppings:
Dried oregano
Parmesan cheese
5 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1/4 of a red onion, cut into larger pieces
1/2 cup of fresh basil, rinsed and cut into strips

Directions: Make the dough or follow the directions for the premade dough.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  If you are using a pizza stone, be sure to keep it in the oven until the baking temperature is reached.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to your desired thickness and shape.  This is a good time to add flavors to the dough like garlic or oregano if you so desire.  Then pour a small amount of olive oil on your pizza pan or stone.   Using a brush, coat the pan or stone so that the pizza dough won't stick.

Transfer the dough to the pan or stone.

Then spread the sauce onto the dough, leaving the perimeter of the dough sauce-free.  Next add the cheese, covering all of the sauce.  I prefer to sprinkle the oregano and parmesan before I add any other toppings.  Once you have the oregano and parmesan cheese sprinkled onto the pizza, it's time for your main toppings.  I like a lot of toppings so the amount I used may be too heavy for your taste.  If so, adjust accordingly.  If you are feeling adventurous, try adding the sauce, toppings, and cheese in a different sequence.

Finally, bake your pizza for about 15-18 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.  If the pizza dough has stuck to the pan, use a spatulla to seperate the pizza from the pan before cutting.

Enjoy your pizza while lowering your carbon footprint.

For more meatless meal ideas, check out the Meatless Monday website.

Installing a Rain Barrel

Installing a rain barrel is a fantastic way that we can reduce our tap water usage.   Basically, whenever it rains, water is diverted from the gutters and into the barrel.  During a storm, any excess water flows through a hose at the top and into the grass.  Then, when you need to irrigate, you can either place a watering can under the tap or attach a hose to the valve in the bottom of the barrel.

When you purchase or make a rain barrel, there are some important things that should be done prior to installation.  First of all, the rain barrel needs a solid surface to rest on.  If your downspouts are not located by a solid surface, you will need to dig out a couple of inches of soil.  You will then need to form a base by putting gravel down, one inch at a time, and tamp it down each time.  Once the compacted gravel is close to the surface of the soil, you will then need to place some sand on top of the gravel.  Once the sand is on top of the gravel, tamp it down.  Then you can use a two foot level and to make sure the sand is level.  Once the sand is level, you are ready to place your stepping stones or bricks down.

Once you have a solid place to set the rain barrel, you will then need to cut away part of the downspout so the rainbarrel can fit under it.  Then reattach the elbow to the downspout, ensuring that the rain will flow into the rain barrel.

It is important that your rain barrel has a lid on top so that young children don't accidentally fall in.  A fine screen is necessary for the part of the lid where water flows in.  The screen keeps debris and adult mosquitoes out of the water.

Additionally, depending on your roofing materials, harmful chemicals may leak into the rainwater from your roof. Roofs with treated cedar shingles, old tar, and asphalt shingles can leech toxins into your runoff water.  It is recommended not to use the rainwater that is collected from your roof to water herbs, vegetables, and fruit.

Besides helping to irrigate your ornamental garden or lawn during dry spells, storing rain in rain barrels lowers runoff and the amount of water flowing into storm sewers.  This can potentially lower the effects of flooding in a community.   I own one rain barrel and during a storm, it can collect and store 50 gallons of rainfall.  My home is 864 square feet.  If one inch of rainfall landed on my roof, a total of 539 gallons of water would flow through the gutters.  My rain barrel would store about 9.28 % of the runoff.  Of course, most storm sewers can easily handle an inch of rain at a time.  However, by storing water, rain barrels can be an important tool to help minimize flooding during heavier storms.

For more rain barrel tips, check out this rain barrel care guide.

Meatless Monday Menu Week 2

Today we our having vegetarian fajitas.  The beauty of vegetarian fajitas, well any fajitas, is that you can pick and choose what ingredients you place in the tortilla. Here is what we used.

 Ingredients:

1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper

I'm always overfilling my tortilla.

1 red onion
4 romaine lettuce leaves, washed and cut into bite size pieces
1 30 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed.
5 baby bella or button mushrooms
1 avocado
1 jalapeno pepper
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
cheddar, mozzarella, Monterrey Jack, or colby cheese.  We used colby since that was in the fridge.  Shred if necessary.
tortillas
fresh cilantro
salsa
plain yogurt or sour cream
your favorite hot sauce

Suggested spices: garlic, cumin, cayenne pepper, and cajun seasoning.

Begin by slicing the onions and peppers into thin strips.  Slice the mushrooms.  Add the olive oil to a skillet and heat it on a medium setting.  Then saute the onions for a few minutes until tender.  Be sure to flip the onions occasionally so they do not burn on one side.

What a colorful meal!

Then add the the mushrooms and pepper to the skillet and stir occasionally.  After a few minutes, add the beans and continue to stir occasionally.  This is a great time to add what ever spices you are using.  While the vegetables are cooking, peel and slice the avocado.

After the beans have softened, you are ready to eat.  We like to set our counter up like a buffet so that each person can easily personalize their fajitas. 

Enjoy.

Line Dry Your Clothes to Save Energy and Money

Line drying clothes is a sure way to reduce energy consumption.  According to Laundrylist.org, clothes dryers account for 5.9 percent of residential energy use.  By investing in and using a clothes line or drying rack, you could potentially eliminate that portion of your home's energy consumption, costs, and any associated pollution.  All of that by letting the sun and wind do the drying for you.

Calculate your clothes dryer costs.

In our house, we use three drying racks to accommodate each load of laundry.  One of the racks has three pieces of netting attached to the racks.  The netting is great since it prevents stretching of knitted fabrics by allowing you to lay the clothes out flat.  In spring, summer, and autumn, we are able to line dry clothing on most days.  In the winter and on days with precipitation, the clothes are either placed in the dryer or line dried in our basement.  As a note of caution, if you line dry clothing inside your home, use a dehumidifier or have open windows so that humidity does build up in your home.  A home that is too humid may encourage mold growth.

Using a clothes dryer has hidden costs as well as the obvious cost of energy used to run the machine. If you use a clothes dryer in the summer months, some of the dryer's heat will warm your house.  In effect, your air conditioner will have work even harder to cool your home.

As with any machine, using it will cause wear and tear.  Maintence, repairs, and replacement will become necessary.  Reducing the usage of your clothes dryer will decrease the frequency of necessary care.  This can save both money and reduce the needed materials needed for repairs and replacement.

Speaking of wear and tear, using the dryer is harsh on the fabrics of your clothes.  All of that lint in the lint trap has to come from somewhere.  When you use the clothes dryer, your clothes become worn out much sooner.

If you use a clothesline or drying racks, there are some things to be mindful of.  If you plan to dry your laundry outdoors, keep an eye on the weather.  Rain can quickly soak your clothes.  And while we are on the topic of things falling from the sky, don't dry your clothes under trees or other places that birds congregate at.  Finally, if you are able, take dry clothes off of the line when they are ready.  By doing this, more air and sun can reach the remaining damp clothes.  This will speed up the drying process of the remaining clothes.

Meatless Monday Menu: Week 1

I'm starting a weekly feature called the Meatless Monday Menu. I grew up eating a lot of meat and potato meals. It has only been in the past few years where I have really made a concerted effort to eat a balanced diet. Now I look forward to the delicious vegetarian recipes that we have found and prepared.

One of my reasons for having a Meatless Monday is to shrink my carbon footprint. Cows and other animals produce methane as a byproduct of digestion. Methane which over time, is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. According to the EPA, methane can trap 20 times more heat than carbon dioxied. If the demand for beef decreases, farmers and ranchers will shift what they grow and raise away from cattle. By skipping meat, your carbon footprint is reduced.

Tonight's menu will be: Homemade bean burgers, rice pilaf, and grapes. Drinks will be organic milk and water.

Here is our recipe for the bean burgers.

1 30 ounce can of black beans rinsed and drained.
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
10 tablespoons of bread crumbs.  These can be made easily in a food processor.
2-4 mushrooms, minced.
8 hamburger buns or lettuce for wraps.
4 tablespoon olive oil
Optional: 1 tablespoon of minced jalapeno pepper

1. Mash the beans in a bowl until they are smooth.  I use a metal reusable water bottle to mash the beans.  Stir in cumin, breadcrumbs, and jalapeno.

2. Then use floured hands and make the burgers.

3. Next, you will be cooking the burgers on either a large skillet or electric grill.  If you use a skillet, you will have to cook the burgers in two skillets or two batches.  Heat the oil on medium heat until hot but not smoking. Place the burgers in the skillet or on the grill.  Cook until they are golden brown.  Flip them once.

Instead of using buns, we are going to use lettuce leaves to hold the burgers.  I prefer cheddar cheese and red onions as a toppings. Avocado slices and sautéed mushrooms are a welcome addition as well.  

Dropping by a Green Fair

If you are looking for new ideas for how to be more green, check out a local green fair.  While Green fairs vary greatly in size, you can be sure that all of the organzations are concerned about and arebcommitted to the environment.

If you go to a green fair, chances are that you will find volunteer organizations, green companies, entertainment, and people wishing to inform you of ecologically sound practices.  There may even be drop off sites for specific recycleables but be sure to check ahead.

Whether it is finding out what is recycleable in your community or discovering ways to compost in your garden, you can be sure to find out how to be a better steward of the Earth. At a recent green fair, I was able to speak with the proud owner of a Nissan Leaf.  I was able to not only check out the car, but to also find out that they have never run out of battery power, which is a concern of many potential electric vehicle drivers.  There is also little maintenance.  Good bye oil changes!  The next time I purchase a car, I will seriously consider electric.

Education at green fairs is fantastic, but one must act on that knowledge in order to help our planet.  When attending a green fair, there may be companies promoting their environmentally ethical practices and products.  These companies are great for helping families and organizations improve their environmental impact.  The also supplement a person's ability to do it yourself.  At my house, I was able to install our rain barrel, but I would prefer to hire a certified company to place solar panels on our roof.  A green fair is a great opportunity to shop for environmentally friendly products and services, and all under one roof.

If you missed your local green fairs, don't be disappointed.  Most are annual and depending on where you live, there may be several held nearby.

What was the best thing you saw or learned about at a green fair?

Making Muffins and Reducing Waste with Silicone Muffin Liners

As a child, my favorite breakfast food was blueberry muffins.  As an adult, I bake muffins anywhere from two to four times a month.  Originnally, I did not use any muffin tin liners since I thought it would be less wasteful to just grease the muffin pan.  Too often though, the muffins stuck to the pan.

It was one Saturday morning that I found silicone muffin liners at a garage sale.  I've never looked back.  The muffins come out of the pan with ease.  Most muffins come out of the liner cleanly, especially if you let them cool.  Waiting though, can be nearly impossible in my home.

Due to the fact that the silicone muffin liners can be reused, they can help reduce the waste generated by our homes.  Through repeated use, they can save you money as well since you are buying disposable liners. As for muffin recipes, I find Better Homes and Gardens has a great standard recipe.

You can also make your own chocolate peanut butter cups.  This is an improvised recipe so there are no exact measurements. I melted chocolate chips and a smaller amount of butter in a sauce pan, stirring frequently over low heat.  A small amount of powdered sugar was added as well.  Once the chocolate and butter was mixed, I filled silicone muffin liners about third full with the mixture.  Be sure to save some of the mixture.  While the mixture was still warm, I dropped a spoonful of peanut butter into each partially filled liner.  To cover the peanut butter, pour the remaining chocolate mixture on top.  Then chill the peanut butter cups in the fridge or freezer.  After the chocolate has solidified, enjoy!

Finding Great Deals and Conserving

One person's trash is another person's treasure.  That is the essence of garage sales.  Whether it is moving away or combating hoarding, people are trying to clear out their homes for various reasons.  You show up, take a look at what is for sale, and maybe purchase something for cash.

Those treasures, or trash, are usually on sale for bargain rates. The sellers want everything to go.  If there is something you might need or want, hold off buying it from the local stores and spend some time going to garage sales.  If you find what you are looking for, you are almost guaranteed to spend less for it than at a store.  Besides being priced for less, you can also save money in other ways.  Although I don't, some people haggle for even lower prices.  Also, I have yet to go to a garage sale that collects sales tax.  Case in point, yesterday, I purchased a small item organizer, seven child's size pants, and a pizza stone for only $7.00.  No tax was charged and things were much cheaper than in the store.

This brings me to another beauty of garage sales, randomness.  Who knows what in the world you'll find.  In my car, I keep a list of items that I am looking for.  When I get caught up browsing, the list helps me remember what I would really like.  However, the randomness of the what might be on sale makes it fun.  Last year I purchased old but unopened Lego sets for my children.  I found a marble mortar and pestle, perfect for guacamole, for $3.00 a few weeks ago.  One place I stopped at had old Playboy magazines for a $1.00 each.  A collector would love to find that. 

How do garage sales help the environment?  Quite simply, you are reusing items when you make a purchase.  In the spring, I bought an office chair for $5.00.  The seller didn't throw the chair in the trash.  And since I purchased a used chair, I didn't need to buy a new one from a store.  That means a new chair didn't need to be manufactured and shipped from thousands of miles away to get to me.  Less trash, less shipping, less cost, and less pollution are all the results of going to garage sales.  What tips do you have for going to garage sales?

Developing an Apppreciation for Nature

  How can you develop an appreciation for nature?  Go outdoors.  A person's appreciation for nature begins with and is sustained by that.  Appreciation does not mean unconditional love.  There are things in nature that can be painful and poisonous, wondrous and beautiful.  But respect and knowledge can be gained for natural things when you step out of the doorway to your home.  My own appreciation for nature began there.

  I had the fortune of growing up in a rural, midwestern town.  Countless unstructured hours were spent outdoors.  A lot of time was spent playing in the yard and sandbox.  As I write this, there are memories that I am recalling that I have not thought of in years.  There were the thistles that grew in the yard, eating fresh rhubarb with a friend, catching lightning bugs, discovering that you can be stung by caterpillars (I do not recall the type).  My sister and I ran laps around the house during a summer shower.  One summer I decided to knock a wasp nest down from the shed using a baseball.  The memories of hearing people yell, "Run!!" now brings a smile to my face.  I don't think I ever ran so fast.  The free play allowed me to discover, and figure things about nature on my own.

  Having 100 percent of your outdoor time to be free play is limiting though.  When a child discovers something, adult guidance can help create further understanding. When I found a small brown lizard on a tree, my grandfather told me that some lizards can lose their tails to predators.  They can then regrow a lost tail.  That was completely fascinating.  Opportunities to learn come from discovery.  Those opportunities give us a reason to learn. 

  There are many things that keep one inside.  Television, computers, phone, unsafe neighborhoods, limited access to green space are such examples.  I admit that I have spent time creating in Minecraft, conquering in World of Warcraft, and exploring other video game worlds.  While these can be fun, they can also be prisons that keep us indoors.  The entertainment that people create is impressive, but nothing is truly as fascinating as the art that Mother Nature has painted.  So take some time, disconnect, and go outdoors.  Take someone with you.

Locally Sourced: Wood Chips

If you are like most people, you probably don't wake up in the morning and say, "I can't wait to pull every single weed in my garden!"  Instead of pulling those weeds, and seeing many return, most gardeners would recommend placing a mulch on your flower beds.  The mulch can save you time and work as well helping to regulate the moisture content of the soil.  You can purchase wood chips from most garden and home stores as well as many big box stores. 

A better, and inexpensive alternative would be to find out if your local municipality or park district has wood chips available for residents.  If they do, all that may be required to obtain some mulch is time, a vehicle, and a shovel.  If you do not have a truck, you can use a car.  If you are using a car or SUV, be sure to place a tarp in the trunk in order to make it easier to clean out the remaining wood chips when you are finished.

On Saturday, I made several trips to the large pile of wood chips in a parking lot near city hall.  In total, I took around 24 cubic feet of wood chips.  All of it came from trees in the community which had either been knocked down in storms or from branches that were trimmed.  The amount of carbon dioxide produced shredding local branches is often far less than what is made commercially.  Commercial wood chips is often shipped from other sources, and consequently, the carbon footprint of using those wood chips is greater. 

If I had went to my local hardware store, the least expensive bag would have been $3.33 for 2 cubic feet.  The total cost for the 24 cubic feet of wood chips would have been $39.96, not including tax.  The locally sourced wood chips were completely free.

How have you used locally sourced products to reduce your carbon footprint?  

Is It Past Time to Jettison the Cargo?

After driving to a destination, you leave your vehicle and go take your belongings with you.  However some of the items in your car are staying in the car.  Perhaps your hands are too full and you can't make a second trip back to the car.  Whatever the reason is, the stuff in the car is staying put.

If it is possible, you should take the extra cargo out.  According to the US Department of Energy, there is an approximate loss of 2 percent of your vehicle's miles per gallon for every 100 pounds of extra weight in your car. 

This may not sound like a big deal.  My old car gets about 22 miles per gallon of gasoline in city driving.  100 excessive pounds in my car reduces my mpg by .44 mpg and now I'm only getting 21.56 miles per gallon.  I lose just under half a mile of driving on that gallon of gasoline.  If I leave that stuff in the car and keep driving, I waste more gasoline, spend more money, and pollute more.

                  Normal 22 MPG                          vs.         21.56 MPG due to 100 extra pounds
I can go 220 miles on 10 gallons of gas.                        I can go 215.6 miles on 10 gallons of gas.
With 100 gallons of gas, I can go 2200 miles.               With 100 gallons of gas, I can go 2156 miles
With 200 gallons of gas, I can go 4400 miles.               With 200 gallons of gas, I can go 4312 miles.

While the difference is not great, even considering driving for longer periods, it is still important to reduce our energy consumption.  The next time you exit your vehicle, consider taking everything out with you.  If many, many people reduce the extra weight in their car, the effect would truly become beneficial. 

Saving the Environment, One Library Book at a Time

We are in the midst of a major cleaning event on the homestead.  Maybe you've experienced it yourself.  Someone, or more than one someone, has an overwhelming urge to clean out all of the clutter.  Our urge has been born out from the desire to simplify our lives with less clutter and consequently, less picking up. Many families throw the discarded items in the trash, give them away to friends or family, donate to charity, or have a garage sale.  For us, it will be the last option.

In the midst of all of our cleaning, we have discarded very few books and slightly more DVDs.  Everyone in the house is an avid reader and we do own plenty of books.

Over the past few years, we have purchased very few books and instead go to our local library.  When I think about it, we have reread few of the books of we own.  Additionally, there are few movies and shows that we have watched a second or third time.  So with that in mind, we only purchase books or DVDs that we feel we will use multiple times.  For everything else, we go to the library.

Why the library?  To begin with, you've already paid for it.  Libraries are often supported through local and state taxes.  If you own a home, part of your taxes supports your library.  If you rent, your landlord paid the taxes with money he collected from you in the form of rent.  Since you have paid, why not use it?

By going to your local library, you will lower your impact on the Earth by reusing items from the "commons".  Today, I checked out The Hobbit after being on a reserved list.  When I signed up for it, I was the 42nd person in the queue.  My library has six copies of the movie.  Instead of 42 copies being purchased, only six were.  There are thirty six copies that do not need to be shipped halfway around the world.  When we use the library, it means less pollution, trash, and packaging,  It also means more money saved in our pockets (assuming you don't have late fees).  Then imagine if a million people, or even better, 100 million people used their local library instead of buying a copy of each movie or book that they want.  What a difference that would make. 

I Just Mowed the Lawn. Now What?

Now what indeed?  Leave it where it lies.  Why rake it, blow it, or bag it when you could use that time to enjoy your yard instead?  Grass clippings decompose quickly and will return nutrients back to the soil.  By doing this, you will drastically reduce the amount of compost or fertilizer your yard will require.

If you insist on raking up the grass clippings, place it in your compost.  Or let the clippings dry out in a mesh bag.  When they have turned yellowish brown, use the clippings as a locally sourced mulch.  If you do not let the grass dry before you mulch, you run the risk of having too much nitrogen being emitted into the soil.  Too much nitrogen at once can harm the plants that you are encouraging to grow.

As a final note of caution about using grass clipping for mulch or placing them in the compost bin, only use grass that has not had any synthetic chemicals added to it.  Conventional soil fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides could potentially damage or kill plants and beneficial species that help to sustain your micro ecosystem.

April Showers Bring Grass to Mow

Many Americans like to have a green space around their homes.  Often, that green space is a sea of grass.  While that green space is pleasant to view, walk on, and play in; it usually requires mowing.  A simple thing that homeowners can do is to mow their yards with a reel mower.  If you are not a homeowner, encourage your landlord to use one or hire a landscaping company that does.  Even offer to use the reel mower if necessary.

Using a reel mower provides great benefits.  Because there is no gasoline or electricity being used, you are not generating any additional carbon dioxide.  The up front cost of a reel mower is usually less than a powered mower as well.  Everytime I use the mower,  I am saving money by not consuming fossil fuels or electricity.

Pushing a reel mower is a great form of exercise and is sure to raise your heart rate.  Having a reel mower also means you have fewer working parts that may need to be replaced, saving you time and money as well as reducing the amount of garbage in the landfill.  Speaking of reducing waste, using a reel mower means no more gas cans, oil cans, and cleaning up gasoline spills from when you filled up.

When I use my reel mower, I enjoy how quiet it is.  I can mow the grass at 7:00 AM on a Saturday morning and my neighbors do not mind.  I've even had lengthy conversations on the phone while mowing the lawn.  How many of us can do that while riding on or pushing a powered lawn mower?

While reel mowers are great for your health, the environment, and your wallet, there are downsides to using a reel mower.  Before you mow, it is important to pick up any sticks in the yard since a stick can stop a reel mower cold.  You will also need to keep the blades sharp and oiled.  Before I mow, I place a small amount of vegetable oil on a paper towel and wipe the sharp edges of the blades as well as the cutting bar.  Finally, you may need to make adjustments to the cutting bar to be sure the mower cuts well.  The owners manual should explain how to do this.  A lawn mower repair shop can help you as well.

Good luck with your mowing and enjoy the quiet, fresh air, exercise, and saving when you mow.

Another Versatile Cleaner: Vinegar

My first experience using vinegar came a few summers ago.  My wife's parents were visiting and I had just came in from the backyard.  Unfortunately, I had brought dog poop in on the underside of my shoe and then tracked it down the basement stairs.  When I went to go upstairs, I came eye to poop with tracks of the stinky stuff on every other step.  After a few choice phrases, my father in law suggested using white vinegar to clean the carpeted steps.   The vinegar worked wonders since it deodorized and helped clean the mess.

Vinegar is great since it is cheap and safe enough to eat.  It is not nearly as harmful to the environment as many factory made cleaners.  I have used it to clean crayon off of carpeting and vomit off of a sofa.  It can be used to clean toilet bowls and sprayed onto clothing stains to eliminate smells.

Vinegar can also be used against mildew.  The attic access near our bathroom is very receptive to mildew growing on it. When I see the mildew, I mix 1 part water to 2 parts vinegar.  Then I spray the surface of the access panel, wipe it down, clean it with a damp paper towel, and dry it.

Many people also use vinegar to clean their coffee makers.  Simply pour vinegar into the coffee maker and run it.  When your coffee maker is finished, empty the vinegar from the coffee pot and place clean, cool water into the coffee maker.  Then run the coffee maker once more.  When the water in the pot has cooled, you can use it to water some of your acid loving plants in the garden.

I would advise against using vinegar on metal, porcelain tiles, and concrete.  Since vinegar is an acid, it can cause those surfaces to be dissolve or be pitted.  When you finish cleaning, use a damp paper towel that has been soaked in clean water to wipe away the vinegar.  Then use a dry cloth to dry the cleaned area.

How do you use vinegar? Please share your thoughts.

A Review of Sheila Says We're Weird

This evening, we read Sheila Says We're Weird to our children.  My wife selected it from the Earth Day books that are in our local library today.  Author Ruth Ann Smalley and illustrator Jennifer Emery portray how and, more importantly, why people should make sustainable choices in their lifestyles.

In the story, Sheila seems to grapple with why her neighbors live the way they do.  Her neighbors make environmentally sustainable choices in how they live.  When Sheila asks,  "Why don't you get your groceries from the store?", her neighbors patiently explain that they like local food since it tastes better and fresher without using as much energy to be delivered.  Sheila of course states, "That's weird.". The book, contains similar situations and Sheila begins enjoying the way her neighbors live.

I enjoyed reading this book to my children who have not fully realized how differently we live compared to many of our neighbors.  The explanations and pictures of why the family practices green living should help convince children and adults of some of the simple things they can do to lessen the impact we make on the environment.

Smalley, Ruth Ann; Emery, Jennifer; Sheila Says We're Weird; Tilbury Publishers; Gardiner, Maine, 2011

http://www.jenniferemery.com/

Many Hands Make Light Work

There are many things that we can do individually to lessen the effects of pollution and climate change.  Each of these actions is like moving a small stone from a mountain.  As a lone person, it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to move the whole mountain.  Collectively, it can be done.  The daunting challenges of stopping climate change and cleaning up the world's environment requires us all to act.

One of the best things we can do is to join and be active in a local organization that promotes the care of the environment.  Yesterday, I was part of a group that did a roadside cleanup.   The volunteer group has been active for several years and this is just one of the activities that they do.  In about an hour and half, seven of us cleaned up the litter that was strung along both sides of a mile stretch of highway.  We filled about five large trash bags with various objects, mostly plastic wrappers, disposable cups, and paper products.

Afterwards, there was a definite sense of accomplishment as we surveyed the clean parkways and looked down on the pile of bagged litter at our feet.  What would have taken one person a large portion of the day to do was accomplished efficiently by the team.

Most important of all was the sense of camaraderie that was shared while we were picking up the litter.  We were able to talk about life and feel that we were a part of something greater than just ourselves.

I encourage you to join an organization and contribute your talents to making the world a better place.  If there are no organizations nearby, then become a founding member of one.  The more people that help, the easier it is to reach a goal.

Baking Soda Goes Beyond Baking

Like many people that cook from scratch, I use baking soda with many baked goods.  Baking soda is much more versatile than many of us realize.  Besides cooking, I use baking soda as a cleaning agent since it is not harmful to the environment or our health in the way many industrial strength cleaners are.

In our home, we seldom use nonstick pans, prefering stainless steel or glass cookware.  Soaking the dirty pans in a solution of water and baking soda helps make them easier to clean.

When it is time to clean the shower, tub, toilet, and sink, baking soda is ready for duty.  We use a paste made from water and baking soda.  Then scrub away.  The important thing to do is rinse the cleaned area thoroughly and then dry it with a rag or paper towel.  If you don't rinse and dry, there may be baking soda deposits that appear after the water evaporates.  You cna also pour baking soda in the tank of your toilet and let it sit over night.

My wife uses baking soda to clean the microwave.  She mixes up a solution of baking soda and water in a microwave safe bowl.  She then microwaves the solution for several minutes.  Afterwards, she uses a damp paper towel to wipe down the inside of the microwave.

As a child, I had the small misfortune of being stung by a bee when I accidentally smashed it while picking up a toy.  My grandmother, who was watching me, made a baking soda paste and spread it over the injury.  After letting it dry, the stinger stuck to the paste.  She was able to carefully scrap the stinger away without using tweezers.

Amd finally, baking soda is able to avoid unpleasant smells.  Feel free to pour some in the bottom of your kitchen trash can or a diaper pail.  After a few months, remove the old baking soda and replace it with fresh baking soda.

How do you use baking soda?  What tips or advice do you have?

Spring is here... I think.

It seems spring has finally made an appearance.  In the midwest, it felt like winter was a month late and like a guest who is enjoying himself, then decided to stay a bit later.  Today was our first day above 60 degrees and it was a welcome sight.

The garden is finally dry enough that I planted some arugula.  When I write dry enough, the soil looked like moist brownies that were just taken out of the oven.  I can't wait to eat some.  It sounds like we should be able to have some in 30-45 days.  Next on the list,  placing a fence around the arugula to keep the bunnies out.

Every year I attempt to grow something new in the veggie garden.  Last year we had chile peppers.  Growing some of your own food helps lower your carbon footprint since you only have to walk a short a distance to get your food.  The real perk is having food that tastes great since it is extremely fresh.

If you haven't gardened before, my advice is to start small so you don't become overwhelmed.  And don't become discouraged if a plant doesn't grow well.  Celebrate the successes and think of failures as learning opportunities.

Riding the bus

Today I took the bus home from work since the car needs auto-body repairs. It was quite pleasant ride. The bus was on time, clean, and quiet. The sun was shining and the air was crisp during the mile walk home.

The difficult thing is adjusting my mindset from being able to leave whenever I want to scheduling my time so that I don't miss the bus.

For my old Pontiac, I can go about 20 miles in the city on one gallon of 87 grade gasoline. Taking the bus this afternoon saved one third of that gallon of gasoline. That is 6.3 pounds of CO2 that was not emitted today. That's a small stone but enough of positive changes can make a difference. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's ride.

Check out slate.com for information on how a gallon of gas creates 19 pounds of CO2.