So far, the MuseGreen community has provided funding for the planting of 105 trees and we've a combined Ocean Quotient of 58. Want to help? Simply shop or play for trees or the Oceans and we'll do the rest! Sign-up and make it count!
Looks like the daggers were out this week when Robert Redford, a trustee for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), spoke out over the Bush Administration’s proposal to auction off federal land near national treasures in Utah for oil and gas exploration. But whilst environmentalists welcomed the added strength to their corner, others lashed out saying that, “Redford is just another big mouth actor, trying to force his opinions down everyone else’s throat.”
The leases are said to cover 110,000 acres in various plots near some of the most beautiful national parks, monuments and historic native art sites, including Arches National Park.
Those for more exploration and drilling argue that it’s essential to lessen the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. Redford, however called the move “morally criminal” and said he “was shocked about how devious and sneaky” Bush has been. “These lands are part of our legacy … not Cheney’s and Bush’s,” Redford said. “[They've] been trashing the environment since they came in, like it was their prerogative.”
I came across RealAge a few years ago. The website pulls together health and fitness information from a variety of sources and presents it in an easy way to digest (check out the healthy recipe section!). For example, they have a great article on how eating a big breakfast will help keep you trim (rather than the other way around) and also on how papaya is the wrinkle fighting fruit - stuffed full of vitamin C - that helps fight the signs of aging from the inside out.
The one tool, however, that I find very useful is the RealAge test. It basically asks you a variety of lifestyle questions and out pops what your body is telling you your REAL age is. If you do nothing else, I suggest you invest a few minutes and find out how old your body thinks you really are!
I flew back to the UK a couple of days ago and I must say that I am liking what I see. No, it’s not just the high availability of fish and chip shops and decent beer (of which I have only ever so slightly partaken!). I’m referring to the level of eco-consciousness that appears to be penetrating Brit culture. Even the vibrant pink make-up bag that my 8 year got from Father Christmas yesterday had a tag on it asking to ‘recycle when you’re finished with me’. Now it looks like the country’s eco-initiatives are extending to one of London’s most prominent and iconic mobile landmarks - the double decker bus.
Quiero contarte una cosa que descubrí en mi clase de español. Este algo es una criatura pequeñita que se llama “Coqui”.
El coqui es una rana muy pequeña de Puerto Rico, pero las apariencias engañan, estas pequeñas criaturas crean cerca de cien decibeles de sonido, casi el mismo de una guitarra eléctrica! Imagine millas y millas de coquis, haciendo una sinfonía de sonido en tu vecindario!
A recent report out in the UK suggests that traditional nappies (diapers) are no better for the environment than disposable ones.
Ben Bradshaw, the new health minister, made the comment after a four-year study by the Environment Agency concluded that “there is little or nothing to choose between them”. It found that the damage caused by burying disposables in landfill sites was matched by the electricity and greenhouse gases generated by washing and drying cloth nappies.
In response to a parliamentary question, Mr Bradshaw, a former environment minister, told the Commons: “Reusable nappies may reduce demands on landfill but they still impact on the environment in other ways such as water and energy used in washing and drying them.”
Only five per cent of parents are now thought to use cloth nappies, and nearly three billion nappies are thrown away annually, with 90 per cent ending up in landfill. (read full story here)
Whatever your position on that argument, I thought I’d highlight some of the emerging planet-friendlier diaper options available right now, as featured in a recent Kiwi magazine report. They rival their non-green counterparts in performance and also don’t contain the health hazards such as dioxin (which is a highly toxic byproduct of the pulp and paper’s chlorine bleaching process), tributyltin (or TBT, a hormone-disrupting chemical), fragrances and latex (which can cause allergies in some babies). Did you even know all that crap was buried inside the regular disposable and leaching into your baby’s skin? BPA, TBT… it’s nothing short of criminal.
I never saw the finer points of Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner when I was 13 and having to learn it in my English Literature class. It was more like “What’s it on about, anyway?”
Well, a couple of years (or so!) later and I now I’ve made my own sense of it - just substitute the Albatross with Mother Nature and our total disregard for it as the crossbow that slayed it.
It shouldn’t be any surprise to anybody that we face a global water crisis. But, much like the air we breathe every day, most of us probably take clean water for granted and never think about how much we all depend on it for drinking, agriculture, sanitation, and hygiene.
(when next in Berkeley, don’t forget to visit the Magic Gardens Nursery. If you mention MuseGreen you’ll receive a 10% discount off your nursery purchase!)
There’s an old gardener’s adage that says something like the work you do in your garden during the winter can save you two to three times the work you’d have to do in the spring and summer. I’ve certainly found this to be true in my own garden as well as other gardens we take care of. It’s a great time of year to go through your garden from one end to the other and prune, weed, and mulch.
The MuseGreen team got a great little package through the mail last week. It was from the gals over at Glow Beverages and it contained two bottles of their Glow Mama kiwi-drink which is specially formulated for pregnant and nursing mothers. Now, once I’d picked my husband up off the floor and explained that this wasn’t my way subtle way of telling him that baby #5 was on the way, I decided to give one a try.
Each bottle contains real kiwi juice (I know, it sounds so weird to have to highlight ‘real’ there but so much of the stuff presented to us to consume was grown in petri dishes), fiber, calcium, iron,vitamins B3, B6 and B12 plus the key pregnancy ingredient - folic acid (which, let’s face it, usually comes in the form of horse tablets).
The subtle flavour was very refreshing and, at only 70 calories, makes it a good way to stay on top of those precious nutrient requirements whilst keeping an eye on what seems to be the ever increasing rear end!
The BBC World Service broadcast a great report this morning about the new climate deal struck in Brussels by EU leaders on the package of measures to fight global warming. A move that, they say, confirms Europe as the world leader in fighting climate change. The plan sets out how 27 member-countries will cut carbon emissions by 20% by 2020, compared with 1990 levels.
EU leaders have been discussing the so-called “20/20/20″ package to tackle climate change and concessions to limit its impact on struggling industries. This would require:
20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, compared with 1990 levels
20% increase in use of renewable energy by 2020
20% cut in energy consumption through improved energy efficiency by 2020
Rumour had it that the talks would go on long into the night leaving frazzled heads of state at their wits end, however by mid-afternoon today the chairman of the talks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, faced the cameras saying it was all done and dusted! President Sarkozy claimed it as a personal victory and said:
“finally, on the energy and climate package, this is quite historic, what is happening here. You will not find another continent in the world that has given itself such binding rules that we have done here unanimously…”
Only a handful of shopping days to go before the Christmas specials hit the tele and the whole country curls up for some well earned R&R. (In my case, it’ll also feature at least one trip to the local pub followed by a Chicken Jalfrezi).
Now, I love this time of year - I really do, but finding the special little gift that doesn’t leave my bank balance or the planet feeling less than healthy can be a challenge. So, that’s why I get enthused when I find out about stores such as EcoCentric - an online ethical & eco friendly homewares and gifts store. It wasn’t that long ago that you’d have to trawl the interweb in search of something more inspiring than hemp underpants and granola health bars. However, the world finally seems to be embracing the new eco era and that gives us choices… and choice is good.
(when next in Berkeley, don’t forget to visit the Magic Gardens Nursery. If you mention MuseGreen you’ll receive a 10% discount off your nursery purchase!)
In many of the gardens I see, I can often tell what time of the year were planted. When they visited the nursery, they bought most of their plants in bloom at that time of year; and most commonly in the spring. Even though we live in a temperate Mediterranean climate here in the Bay Area, many Bay Area gardens have little late fall or winter color. However, many beautiful plants are available to create abundant year round color in your garden.
A study by the US Department of Agriculture found that more plants (and probably more variety) could be grown in Oakland, California (the location of the East Bay test station) than most places in the world. In the inner East Bay we can grow many tropicals and subtropicals, as well as many hardy plants.
In my own garden, because I am so busy in the spring, I don’t focus on spring color. Instead, I love going out in the dead of winter and having a choice, such as:
Camellia
Hellebore (Christmas or Lenten Rose)
Kniphofia ‘Royal Strain (Red Hot Poker)
Salvias (S. holwayi, S. semi-atrata, S. gesneriiflora ‘tequila’, S. purpurea and others),
Bergenia crassifolia (a good cut flower)
Tibouchina organensis (lavender and white princess flower), or
winter flowering Aloes in full bloom.
The deciduous magnolias are at their peak in winter with their showy blooms borne on bare branches. There are so many other winter bloomers. For inspiration take a walk through the U.C. Botanical Garden or Strybring Arboretum. On a gloomy day, color in the garden can be very uplifting.
Along with a new Administration, change is in the air. Climate Change that is and, not only that, but what the hell we’re going to do about it? We can’t waste any time, decisions are already being made on climate and energy policy and we need to make our voices heard to the millions of people out there who have still yet to get the plot.
That’s why I wanted you all to watch the video below from Repower America who will be launching a series of ads this week to show us what some Americans are already doing to make this happen.
Now, their goal is an ambitious one; to Repower America with 100% clean electricity within 10 years. First outlined in a speech by Al Gore back in July, many have scoffed at its naiivety. Be that as it may, I for one would love that to became a reality, naiive or not and the only way to help ensure it is, is to do something about it.
So, what do they list as the key steps to achieving this gargantuan task?
I just stumbled across this one so I thought I’d pass it along. It’s a little light-hearted entertainment aimed at getting us off our proverbials and righting our wrong-doings.
Then, when you’re done, please visit greenpeace.org. Apart from being an amazing resource of information about the how we can and should be helping our planet, they have a great section on there called Greenwashing - which, to the innocent among us is the term used to describe the act of “misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service”.
Yep, unfortunately, there are quite a few charlatans around. However, forewarned is forearmed and, if you spot one, then they even have an online form for you to fill out to report them (after you’ve ensured that they meet the Greenwashing Criteria, of course)!
I wanted to introduce to you a new website that I found out about recently. They are called Embodies and they are dedicated to living a healthy lifestyle, inside and out, with the belief that being environmentally conscious is NOT a fad, but a way of life.
They have been very fortunate enough to work with a small group of designers dedicated to sustainable design. Designers which continue to push the boundaries and discover new fabrics, new designs, new packing materials, and indeed a new sustainable way to conduct business. All items in the boutique are carefully selected to ascertain that they are in accordance with the Embodies mission. Before any new line is featured, many questions are asked, such as:
What fabrics are used in the clothing?
Are they organic, sustainable, recycled or reclaimed? If so how?
Where are the items manufactured? Under what conditions?
What types of dyes are used in the clothing?
What type of packaging do the clothes ship in?
Is there a way to eliminate sending plastic hangers, plastic bags and other waste?
I received an email last week from Dr. Earth (the dude in rather fetching white suit, above, and all round good bloke). The name might actually sound familiar to hardcore MuseGreeners as I wrote about Dr. Earth and his brand new eco-nightclub a few months ago. Well, Dr. Earth reflects on human actions and lifestyles and is someone who wants to actively promote environmental awareness. Take a moment to check out his biography here - it’s actually quite a fascinating read!
Anyway, the subject of his email was ‘Dr. Earth’s 25 steps to becoming a Greener Being’ and so I thought I’d share what he had to say (warning for US-types: it’s in Brit speak so please hang in there!):
I’m not sure if the solar oven industry is on a bit of a marketing drive right now but last week, if I saw one article about these little wonders, I must have seen a dozen. Up until now I have only been exposed to the home-made outdoor oven based upon a cardboard box, lined with foil. If you’ve never tried it, it’s really quite good. Throw in some hot coals from the camp fire, close the lid et voila - chocolate chip cookies in 10 minutes! A variation on this (and one that is used in places such as Guatemala) is using glass instead of the hot coals which, as we know, is even more eco-fabulous but, as with the solar equivalent, not too good if you want those cookies as a late night snack!
However, assuming that you wish to eat when the sun is shining, these ovens really do provide a great outdoor cooking alternative. There is no mess, no smoke, no partaking of fossil fuels. A fabulously green way to cook. It’s also fun. Imagine your first meal - all huddled around the oven starring at it in amazement and trepidation, wondering what the hell is going to pop out the other end.
