Green Living Earth Friendly

In addition to the positive effects of compost, the green gardener has a wide variety of other soil-enhancing products at his or her fingertips.Green manuresThese are plants that are grown to enrich and protect the soil. They reduce the harmful effects of wind and rain, reduce weeds and can provide nutrients when dug back into the soil. The idea is to grow them on bare soil in winter or between different crops of vegetables in the summer. The types of plant used produce a mass of weed-smothering foliage quickly. They include: alfalfa, mustard, buckwheat, clover, fenugreek, field beans, annual ryegrass and phacelia.

But you should note that seed germination may be inhibited by decaying green manure, so you should leave a gap of at least one month between digging the green manure in and sowing seed.

Leaf mould

This can be used as a mulch, but it is also valuable for digging into the soil or in a seed-sowing or potting compost. Since leaves need more light and less air to rot down than other compostable materials, it is best to compost them in their own container. You can make this using four wooden stakes at least 1 m (1 yd) high, driven into the ground with chicken wire stapled around the outside. Be warned: it can take up to three years before you get good compost from leaf mould, but it is well worth the wait. If you need more leaves, ask your local authority if they could donate some from their autumn sweepings - or collect them yourself.

Manure

Although manure is likely to contain hormones, pesticides and other nasty elements if it comes from a conventional rather than an organic farm, it is thought that if manure is stacked for at least a year these contaminants will not present a problem.

Spent mushroom compost

Again, this will need to be left for at least a year to make sure any chemicals used in mushroom-growing leach out. Don’t use it on acid-loving plants, but it is good for improving heavy clay soils.

Fertilizers

Occasionally, through a lack of readily available compost or severe deficiencies in your soil, you may need to resort to a fertilizer. But even then, there is no need to reach for the synthetic chemicals. There is a wide range of organic fertilizers on sale in both garden centres and by mail order, including: seaweed meal, fish bone and blood, gypsum for heavy clay soils, and hoof and horn. Animal-free products are also available if this is an issue.

Liquid fertilizers or feeds are often used in container gardening and for the green gardener there is a choice of fish emulsion, liquid manure and comfrey liquid (which is highly recommended for tomatoes and peppers). Seaweed extract is also sold as a soil and plant tonic. You can make your own comfrey liquid by growing the plant, soaking the cut leaves in a container with a tight-fitting lid for four to six weeks, and then straining off the liquid.

Mulches

A mulch is a layer of material spread around plants on the soil surface to protect the soil from erosion, reduce water loss and smother weed growth. Some mulches are also biodegradable and therefore able to improve soil structure as they decompose. These organic mulches, which include grass clippings, compost, leaves, bark chippings, straw and manure, are preferable to inorganic mulches like black polythene, carpet or woven plastic. There are also purpose-made mulching fabrics available, including flax or hemp (burlap) fibre matting.

If you use grass clippings, it is best to dry them out in the sun first before applying a layer 5-7 cm (2-3 in) deep, as otherwise they can be too slimy and may suffocate plant roots. Sheets of newspaper can be placed on the ground, covered lightly with grass clippings or another mulch to anchor them, but take care on a windy day! It is best to shred autumn leaves with a lawnmower or shredder first and then compost them over winter before using them as a mulch.

Post from: Green Living Earth Friendly

Green Soil Helpers

Eco Christmas

Editor — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:53:00 +0000

Celebrate the Holidays and Our Earth in Eco-Friendly Ways

The holidays are drawing near, and we all look forward to family, friends, decorations, pageants and gifts. We feel closer to our loved ones and the spirit of joy takes over. Along with all these wonderfully positive emotions and the rush of excitement comes garbage bags full of wrapping paper, boxes and bows, millions of trees that have been chopped down, and a huge increase in megawatt usage to light our chopped down trees, our windows and yards. For those of us who wish to, and are trying desperately to leave a smaller ecological footprint, we struggle with the desire to give beautifully wrapped gifts and light up the neighborhood, and the desire to help save the Earth. There are ways to celebrate, have fun, eat well and light up the yard and still have an eco-friendly holiday. And after all, nobody wants to be a Scrooge. There are many things we can all do to help make the holidays more eco-friendly, and even if each of us uses only some of these ideas, the positive impact will be momentous.

Gift Wrap and Packages

The holiday season, which traditionally begins in the U.S. with Thanksgiving and ends on New Years Day brings with it about a million extra tons of garbage! This is mostly wrapping paper and packaging, and with a few painless steps, you can reduce and reuse without turning holiday gift giving colorless and blah.

Robert Lilienfeld, who co-authored the book Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are, tells us that if every family reused just 2 feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet. This is incredible! Can you wrap a gift reusing ribbon or without using ribbon at all? Of course you can!

And what about wrapping paper? Consider purchasing recycled wrapping paper. Or, become an artist and use plain brown recycled paper. With colored markers or tempura paint, decorate the wrapped packages by drawing or painting ribbons, bows and other holiday visions on them. If you don’t want to do that, have your little ones decorate them with their tempura painted hands. The warm creativity that shows through in these personalized packages is pure love. Another idea for gift-wrapping is to use fabric scraps. Tie them with colorful yarn and attach a gift tag made from recycled holiday cards and you’ve got a lovely presentation with old-fashioned flair.

Some gifts can be presented without wrappings. What about a pair of tickets to a great concert, show or sporting event? Put them in an envelope, write the recipients name and “With Love” from you in colored ink and wait to see their face light up when they open their gift.

Gifts can also be given in the form of donations to a favorite charity or non-profit. And what about giving gifts such as No Chore coupons, or free babysitting (of course, you have to be sure to make good on these). These don’t need wrapping up – very convenient and Earth-friendly.

Gift Purchases

Giving gifts is fun no matter what time of the year it is. When we give well thought out gifts that please the recipient, we feel like we’ve really hit the mark. When we give gifts that also help perpetuate the survival of the planet, we know we’ve done even better!

Gifts that are made from organic or recycled materials, or made by local artists are wonderful choices. Gifts from organizations such as Oxfam are a delightful way to give to your ecologically and socially minded friends and loved ones. You will also want to consider buying Fair Trade. People in underdeveloped countries around the world make Fair Trade items. Your purchase of Fair Trade gifts will benefit these people in many ways. Organic and locally made gifts are also a great way to go. These are so much nicer than the garden-variety gifts that can be bought at Wal-Mart. Remember that the biggest, best and most important gift of the holidays is the time you spend with, and attention you give to the people you love.

Lighting and Warming Without Being an Energy Pig

If you are completely and fervently committed to not adding to the megawatt and fossil fuel overload that occurs at holiday time, do not put lights on the tree or anywhere else for that matter and turn the heat down for goodness sake. And don’t turn on the oven for hours for all that cooking and baking.

If however, you want to be eco-friendly, and still take part in some of the traditional celebratory rituals, try these tips:

• When you are going to have a group over for dinner or an open house, turn the heat down by a couple degrees. No one will notice because all those extra people milling around in your home will be creating heat.

• Use LED lights for your decorative lighting. Because LED lights have semi-conducting material rather than incandescent filaments, they are 90 percent more efficient than traditional Christmas lights. Literally billions of kilowatt-hours could be saved if everyone used LED holiday lights. LED lights also last longer, release little heat and if one goes out, the rest will keep glowing.

• Whether you are using LED or traditional lights, turn them off at night when you are asleep to save additional energy.

• When it comes to washing all the dishes after your holiday feast, make sure to only run the dishwasher when it is full – then use a water conserving setting.

Your Holiday Tree

The tree debate is always a big one. Do you buy an artificial tree that will last for years and years, thus eliminating your yearly car trip to the tree farm; but also used who knows how much fossil fuel in the course of it’s production? Not to mention the fact that when it goes to the landfill it will take millennia to biodegrade? Or should you purchase a real tree? The real tree releases a whole bunch (yes, whole bunch is a technical term) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when it’s cut down and (hopefully not) burned in your back yard after you’re done with it. Or it takes up space in the landfill. The best we can hope for it is that a real tree will end up being chipped into mulch or at least put outside where it’s remains will become a home to critters. So, real tree or fake tree? Well, that’s going to have to be your call. As noted above, there are pros and cons both ways.

If you decide to buy a real tree for your holiday, you can refer to The National Christmas Tree Association’s web site. This Scottsdale, Arizona based group will direct you to the nearest place to drop off your old tree for proper recycling.

Note that while you might hear the suggestion that you should get a rooted tree and bring it in for the holiday, then plant it outside, this isn’t a great idea. Your rooted holiday tree will not adapt well to the hot indoors and you won’t be able to plant it outside until you can dig in the soil. If you live in Northern climates, the tree will have to wait until spring, and it may not survive that long. If you want to plant a rooted tree, by all means do so, but do it in the fall. String LED lights on it and enjoy the way it lights up your yard.

Tree Decorations

OK, you’ve picked your tree and now it’s time to decorate. Let’s think of the ways you can decorate a tree so that it is beamingly beautiful and also more Earth-friendly. Here are some suggestions:

• String garlands of cranberries and popcorn to hang on the boughs. These will be a welcome treat for birds and squirrels after the holidays are over and your tree is retired.
• Search the web for ideas on how to make recycled or homemade ornaments for your tree.
• You can cut out pretty pictures from the cards you received last year (you saved them, right?), and back them with a bit of colored paper or felt, punch a hole, string yarn or cloth ribbon through, and you’ve got ornaments.
• Decorate your tree with pinecones that have fallen from nearby trees or even acorns from an oak tree – a little ribbon, some hot glue and a pinecone or a few acorns and you have Mother Nature’s best decorations.
• Purchase some pretty holiday-themed wired ribbon and artfully weave it through the branches and around the tree. This looks beautiful and you can use the ribbon for several years.
• Cut festive shapes from felt, decorate with sequins or glitter, and attach a ribbon for hanging.

Holiday Greeting Cards

The best way to help the Earth when it comes to greeting cards is by sending electronic greetings. Use any cards you received last year to make tree decorations or gift tags.

To Decorate Your Home

If you have evergreens or ivy growing in your yard, use the trimmings to drape around pictures and on the mantle. You can also fashion a wreath from the trimmings by attaching it to a wire form and finish with a pretty bow.

If you are going to purchase decorative items for your home, shop at antique and resale shops for interesting items that you can use to create a wonderful holiday décor. With a bit of creativity and artistic flair, you can give these items a second life and your home a lively holiday look.

Packaging for Shipping

Use packing materials such as Styrofoam peanuts from items you receive in the mail or from the parcel delivery service. Or you can always use popcorn (the real kind, without butter). Or loosely ball up newspaper or leftover scraps of wrapping paper, and pack around the gift for comfy shipping.

Consider the Go Zero program when shipping your gift purchased from a green retailer. Many will add a contribution of $2 to your order with the idea of erasing the impact of shipping your gift. The money goes to The Conservation Fund to plant a tree that will absorb more than one ton of CO2 from the atmosphere over its lifetime. Check out the Go Zero program at www.conservationfund.org/gozero.

Entertaining

• Don’t use Styrofoam anything. Or paper plates and cups if you can avoid it. Serve your hors d’oeuvres, meals and desserts on real dinnerware and glassware. Don’t worry if it’s not fancy Christmas china, your guest will appreciate your efforts.
• Keep in mind that all that food you will be storing afterwards should be completely cooled before you put it in the refrigerator. If you put warm food in the fridge, it works that much harder to cool itself down. Or you could send each guest home with a delicious plate of leftover treats.
• Turn the heat down a notch or two. All those people and the warmth from the oven will keep your house toasty.
• Buy organic wine, along with organic food items if you can. See about purchasing a free-range turkey for the centerpiece of your healthy, festive, and eco-friendly meal.
• Turn down the lights a bit. Create a warm, festive atmosphere by using those LED decorative lights to provide ambience. Turn off the lights in parts of your home that won’t be used for entertaining, and lower the lights in the dining room to create a lovely effect and save some energy.

The holidays are a time welcomed by us all. We celebrate our faiths, we celebrate our cultures and heritages, and we celebrate our families and friends. Let’s also celebrate this wonderful planet we share not only with all other humans, but our animal and plant friends, too. This web of existence is truly that – a web, and if we don’t maintain our web, it won’t work as well for us. Enjoy the holiday season in a way that makes sense ecologically, and don’t forget to share these ideas with family and friends. Happy Holidays!

Post from: Green Living Earth Friendly

Eco Christmas

Green Money Matters

Editor — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:50:14 +0000

An average family concern for most is that of finances. When people think about budgeting and money matters they visualize check books, account statements, tax records, stacks of receipts, a calculator, and the like. The visual usually involves a lot of clutter and chaos and perhaps a stressed man or woman poring over their financials.

There are a lot of steps we can take to streamline and simplify our finance management for your family and many of these methods happen to be green too. Even paying our bills and managing our money can be hassle free and environmentally minded. Here are a few ideas to green your finances:

1. Manage your finances with budgeting and finance software for your computer for a hassle free and paper free option. Quicken and QuickBooks are two popular accounting programs. Microsoft Money can be linked to your online bank accounts and will pull transaction data directly from your banks upon request. This is a very handy feature. In lieu of fancy software programs you can also use a simple spreadsheet and there are many templates available online that are free and customized to meet the needs of finance management.

2. Request that your bank stop sending you paper account statements in the mail. Most banks now offer online reconciliation and account statements. Online statements usually go back up to six months and can be printed if you need them for any reason. Account statements can also be emailed upon request.

3. Request that your bills be sent to you electronically as well. Some companies may not yet offer this service but more and more are offering this every year. When the bills come to you via email you can just click and pay. The emails can be filed away on your computer if you need to refer back to them.

4. Get away from checks and snail mail by paying bills online, over the phone, or through monthly drafts direct from your checking account. These transactions are easy and waste free.

5. When online paying bills or making purchases, refrain from printing confirmations and receipts. Instead capture an image of your screen and the receipt using the control+alt+print screen function. Then just save the image as a .jpg file using a photo editor and file it on your computer accordingly. You can also keep track of what receipts you have and dollar amounts on a simple spreadsheet.

6. For paper receipts that you accumulate you can tame the paper beast by scanning them and filing them on your computer as well. You can also use a product called Neat Receipts. It scans, analyzes and organizes your receipts, bills and other papers and then sends everything electronically to a database on your computer.

Following the tips above will almost certainly reduce the amount of clutter and needless waste in your life when it comes to matters of finance.

Post from: Green Living Earth Friendly

Green Money Matters

Containers

Editor — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:47:43 +0000

If you have a flat roof, balcony, small backyard or just a few window ledges, then container gardening is for you. No matter how small the space available, there is nearly always a container that will fit and an abundant choice of plants to grow in them. We are not just talking pelargoniums and pansies - herbs, dwarf vegetables and some fruits can all be grown in this way and often more easily than in beds, since soil conditions and pest control are far easier to manage in a small defined area.

Lack of shade and wind are possible problems on balconies, roofs and ledges, so it is best to choose low-growing plants and/or plants that will thrive in the sun, such as Mediterranean herbs, vines, tomatoes, shallots and peppers. Wooden trellises can also act as windbreaks.

Another consideration in these areas is the weight of your container - growing a miniature fruit tree may prove too much for your balcony to bear. But you can still cultivate some herbs in a small pot.

TIPS

• Avoid buying new, plastic containers and try to make your own using old car tyres, a tree stump, an old sink, a chimney pot, ceramic bowls, a toilet cistern or an old wheelbarrow. Be sure to drill holes in the bottom for drainage.

• You can ‘age’ containers by coating them in yogurt to promote the growth of lichen.

• Look for organic growing bags instead of the conventional ones. These should contain organic materials, peat from sustainable sources only (if at all), and are reputed to require less feeding and watering. Or try making your own using a sealed strong plastic bag filled with home-made compost, using composted bark instead of peat.

• Growing bags can be recycled. You can use them for potting bulbs or growing hardy annual flowers once your tomatoes and cucumbers have had their go. Or use the contents as mulch, add it to the soil on seedbeds or in seed trays, or add it to your compost heap.

• Avoid using sphagnum moss as a liner in your hanging baskets. Try lining them in recycled wool, coconut fibre or hemp (burlap) fibre instead of moss. These are often biodegradable, from sustainable sources, and hold water well, so reducing the need for watering.

• Be adventurous. Try baby tomatoes; herbs such as sage, chives, parsley and thyme; or strawberries in your hanging baskets. Fig trees, peach trees, dwarf apple trees and grapevines can all be grown in large tubs or pots, while lettuces, oriental greens, chard, spinach and trailing cucumber can thrive on ledges.

• Remember to use your home-made compost in containers. It will enrich the soil and help it retain moisture - a particular problem with container gardening.

• Use a container to make a water feature -attracting useful garden helpers such as frogs and toads and providing valuable water for birds and insects.

Post from: Green Living Earth Friendly

Containers

Indoor Gardening

Editor — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:32:12 +0000

Green gardening in the home follows the same principles as outdoor gardening. The aim is to avoid using pesticides, to make the best use of natural resources such as water and light, to recycle where possible and to make sure that anything purchased is as environmentally friendly as possible - both in its production and distribution.

Apart from using natural pest control, one of the main ways in which you can make a difference immediately is to avoid peat-based potting composts for your house plants. It is possible to make your own potting compost or to buy peat-free compost suitable for house plants.

Worm compost can be used for planting house plants and a liquid feed made up of compost and water in equal measures can provide a boost to ailing house plants.

Apart from improving the look of your room, house plants can provide a variety of functions, such as reducing pollution by filtering the air - particularly useful in your home office.

You can also grow food at home by planting indoor window boxes of herbs, starting garden vegetable seedlings off indoors or growing sprouting seeds. Home-grown sprouting seeds are a great way to garden indoors; they are fun for children, easy to grow and incredibly nutritious, plus they will save you money on store-bought sprouts.

To harvest your own regular supply of delicious sprouting seeds all you need is a sieve, a glass jar, some muslin (cheesecloth) and some filtered water. Start by soaking the dried beans or seeds - the choice includes mung beans, alfafa seeds, lentils, chickpeas, adzuki beans and pumpkin seeds, - overnight. Rinse and drain them in a sieve, then transfer them to a glass jar and cover it with a square of muslin held in place with an elastic band or string before putting it in a warm, dark place such as an airing cupboard.

All you then have to do is to fill the jar with water and tip upside down to drain through the muslin before putting them back into the covered jar. Repeat this process twice a day until the sprouts are nearly ready to eat (it should take three to five days). Just prior to eating, the sprouts should be put on a windowsill for a couple of hours. Then wash and eat them as soon as possible.

You could also try growing wheatgrass on trays. You will need a mixture of organic compost and top soil spread on a tray and moistened. Then sprinkle with seed, which should have been soaked and left to germinate for 12 hours, and lay another tray on top to keep in moisture. After three days lift the top tray off, water and place the sprouts in sunlight. Four days later you should have a crop of wheat grass that can make a power-packed juice.

TIPS

• The minerals in cold tea are said to help flagging pot plants, so mix some in with your water.

• The water produced from leaving egg shells soaking for several days is also said to revive indoor plants.

• A few drops of almond oil on a damp cloth can help clean the leaves on shiny-leaved plants, such as mother-in-law’s tongue.

• Make your own plant pots from old yogurt and ice cream pots. Remember to put drainage holes in the bottom and use the lids as saucers underneath.

• To maintain steady watering, even if you are away, place one end of a length of thick wool in a saucer of water and the other in the plant pot. The water will steadily drip from one to the other.

• Save water from your bath and washing up to use on your indoor plants. Also remember to use the water left over in the kettle or the waste water produced when installing a new water filter.

Post from: Green Living Earth Friendly

Indoor Gardening