Everything Green
Sustainable living is more than an idea – it’s a necessity. Our lifestyle is quite dependent on the planet, from valuable and limited land to the nonrenewable fossil fuels we’re quickly depleting. Unfortunately, we’ve continued to take from the earth without considering the effects it could have on our future.
Yes, the planet may survive the drastic changes brought about by global warming and the poor decisions of humans – the question is, will we?
What could be more harmless than nice-smelling scented candles, right? No problem and no harm. Light one, let it flicker away, and allow the aroma to set the mood, right? There are dangers and risks associated with scented candles that may have you scrambling for greener alternatives to these apparently neutral everyday products.
We’ve all heard by now that corn-based ethanol has turned out to be a bad idea.
It’s been almost a year since The New York Times editorialized on the subject:
The economics of corn ethanol have never made much sense. Rather than importing cheap Brazilian ethanol made from sugar cane, the United States slaps a tariff of 54 cents a gallon on ethanol from Brazil. Then the government provides a tax break of 51 cents a gallon to American ethanol producers — on top of the generous subsidies that corn growers already receive under the farm program.
And unlike our inefficient corn-based ethanol, that Brazilian product actually yields 370% of the energy put into it.
So, why are we doing this? What possible calculus could convince us to even consider corn ethanol?
Corn is big business – and big agribusiness hires the best lobbyists.
Here, the return on investment is spectacular: plant a few tens of millions of dollars in seed money in the form of campaign contributions to senators and members of Congress, and reap billions of dollars in federal farm subsidies.
And for agribusiness, corn is king.
Last week saw the launch of the very first green fashion magazine called boho. It is printed on 100% recyclable paper with soy-based inks, and unlike other magazines that have a green theme, this one is devoted entirely to fashion. Real fashion–not just hemp and Earth Shoes. We’re talking haute couture here.
Well, we’re a day late here unfortunately. It’s funny that this has come along as we are going to do a bit of a rundown of the green blogs we check out regularly. Now, we have another one to check out and add to the list. WebEcoist is a sister …
Imagine using a wonderful smelling bowl of lightly crushed leaves and flower petals as not only an attractive decoration, but as a chemical free homemade insect repellent. You can grow all of the ingredients in pots, or splurge with a little creativity, but the end result is a safe and effective way to keep the bugs away! Avoiding harsh and unpleasant odors from potentially harmful commercial products is a tremendous reason to try natural insect repellents, as if being inexpensive and beautiful weren’t already enough.Roses, rosemary, and eucalyptus are natural insect repellents. In fact, you probably have garlic, bay leaves, and possibly cloves and cayenne pepper in your kitchen. These are all plants that offer protection from ants and flying insects, such as mosquitoes. Lemongrass is a natural source of citronella. For small or enclosed uses, these should be sufficient for a bug-free afternoon. But let’s also look at a couple of natural heavy-hitters in insect repellents, marigolds and mint. And keep in mind that most garden plants have preferred neighbors.
Every once in a while I find a website that is really exceptional and which has been made by an average Joe. That is to say, this isn’t some big, corporate owned website with lots of paid employees slaving away over it; and yet, it is really, really valuable.
Take, for example, DavidTryse.net. It appears to be sort of personal project by this globetrotting fellow named David Tryse on which he’s compiled different sets of environmental data and used the Google Earth application to map them out.
