Green Movement Resources

Earth day is comin' round the corner. How will you celebrate?

Obviously every day is Earth day and there are cool events always happening in honor of Mother Earth. Here are some good resources if you live in Minnesota and want to become more involved in the sustainability movement.

1) The Alliance for Sustainability is putting on their Sustainable Communities event April 8-9. I went last year and am planning to attend this year. Really cool event to network with other people who have similar interests and learn about ways you can act and participate in local, green movements in your neighborhood.

For more information and to register visit their website.

2) The Sustainability Film Series II is taking place right now. It began late February and goes through May. To check out the list of films that have played and that will be showing check out this website.

3) The Do It Green! Minnesota calendar is a great resource to check out sustainable happenings/workshops year round! Check it out!

4) May 7-8, 2011: The Living Green expo takes place at the State fairgrounds. I went last year and it was a fine introduction to green ideas, but was more for the homeowner who wanted to do green home improvements. This year there is an art exhibit and green wedding piece to the expo that I think will add some flare, so I may have to check it out again.

5) Transition towns. I recently had the opportunity to learn about the Transition towns movement. This organization has chapters all over the place. People come together to work on helping their communities transition to towns that no longer rely on oil for survival. Both St. Paul and Minneapolis have a chapter that meets weekly. To find out if your area has a group, check out their website.

There are obviously more events happening that I did not list and if you have one that you know about that I missed please feel free to comment and share!

If you are not a Minnesota resident, look up events happening in your area. I think you will be surprised to see there are many cool happenings going on in your area. I guarantee it. If not, make your town cooler by setting something up!

Plastics Recycling Opportunities in Minnesota

Ever wonder about whether or not you can recycle a plastic container?

Typically if there is a #1 or #2 on the bottom of the plastic container it is acceptable to be recycled by the local trash and recycling company.

But what about the #3, #4, #5, #6, and #7 plastic containers?

Unfortunately they are usually tossed into the regular garbage. However, right now the Eastside Food co-op of NE Minneapolis is doing a pilot-study program that is collecting #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 plastic containers.

On Thursdays from 3 – 7 pm and Saturdays from 10 am – 2 pm people can rinse, sort and bring these plastics to the parking lot located at 2551 Central Ave NE, Mpls., MN. If you have questions about this opportunity, please call 612-788-0950.

To find more specific information about what you can bring and the program, please visit the Eastside Food Co-op's website.

Want to do more? Want to involve your community? Set up your own collection of #3, #4, #5, #6 and #7 on your block or at your workplace and every week or two when in the Northeast area drop off your community's recycling at the Eastside Food Co-op. This way of participating and getting people involved is really easy. For example, a friendly church member has offered to collect our congregation's plastic recyclables and volunteered to bring them to Eastside weekly.

If you are a friend who sees me on occassion, feel free to bring me your unwanted plastics and I will make sure they arrive to Eastside Food co-op. I will also be grateful to help the cause.

If a resident of the Twin cities, for more details about plastics recycling check out the following resources.
* Plastics recycling information for St. Paul, Minnesota
* Separating recyclables city of Minneapolis webpage

If not a resident of the Twin cities, please look to your own city or town's rules and regulations on their city website or call your local trash/recycling provider.

Stop Frankenfish! Say no to GMO!

Normal fish vs. Frankenfish; more fish, but what is the price?


Do your part and sign a letter to tell President Obama that you say "No!" to genetically modified salmon.

Click here to do your civic duty and make a difference in the world.

After you sign the letter you can even send to 10 of your most politically active friends. It's easy and you are supporting a cause that can truly impact the health of our nation.

As you may already know, genetically modified food is unnatural and has not been adequately tested for its safety. Unfortunately many foods have made this leap, and most people don't even know it. Soybeans and corn are big ones (and not the only ones at that).

There is also cloning happening, where animals are being cloned for production. Humans are now consuming these animals, even though there have not been enough studies done. (Yes, that's right, and they do not label the meat as "cloned," that just wouldn't sell the same, would it?)

Unfortunately some studies show that these cloned animals are quite unhealthy.

They suffer from a mountain of ailments from physical abnormalities, cancer, immune system defects and not to mention early deaths. In one study 83% of clones died after their 800th day on earth.

When you think of fish, you think of the word "fresh," maybe you imagine the fish swimming happily about a stream; frankenfish, on the other hand, are so sick that most of them would die soon whether or not you filleted it. (Sound familiar? Hint: think meat industry).

And after all of this, we ask, is it weird that humans are suffering from compromised immune systems and a slew of health problems, when the "food" we put in our bodies also have the same issues?

Not enough to get you to sign the (cuss) letter? Here's more info:
10 freakiest things about Frankenfish
What are the risks of genetically modified salmon?
Article that explores more genetically modified salmon issues

A quote worth thinking about

“In the end we will conserve only what we love; We will love only what we understand; And we will understand only what we are taught.”

-Baba Dioum, 1968

Recycle your gift cards

Did you know gift cards can be recycled?

I am currently on a HUGE de-cluttering kick in my house and its weird the little things that can accumulate over time. Every Christmas my dad loves to give out gift cards and over the past 10 years you can imagine the piles that are generated. Besides the idea of re-loading a gift card which is a good way to re-use, I found a place you can send your cards to and they recycle them. Its called Earthworks.

Go to their website and subscribe and they will give you the address.

Recycle your gift cards today!

Build your own compost

Finally took the composting plunge today! After lots of talking about it, Jay and I decided to "make our own" composter and save ourselves a good $150-200. Since we are renting but have a backyard we are still doing an outdoor composter, however to make it easier we bought a big garbage container (with a lid) and drilled some holes in it. Easier than pie :)

I've reviewed the city's ordinances on composting and have a list of all of the goodies we can compost. We plan to talk to our neighbors and encourage them to use it. Did you know that 25% of waste can be composted? That's a lot! I hope you decide to begin your own compost. As you just read, it is soooooo easy to do and is so good for the Earth!

Don't let water go down the drain! Duh...

My last birthday I was gifted the little GREEN BOOK of the Home by Sarah Callard from my gal pal Co. Thanks Co! Here's a little tip taken from the book that I'd like to share with you today:

DON'T LET WATER GO DOWN THE DRAIN!



To explain further...

1) When washing feet (for example after a volleyball game) I always make sure to plug the bathtub and let the water collect while I am rinsing my feet off. Then once there is a small bit of water in there I turn off the running water and use the collected water to finish washing/rinsing my feet. Pretty simple and straight forward and an easy way to save some water (whales) and money (water bill).

2) When heating up the water when I am washing my face it takes awhile in my place because it's an older home so I put a bucket of water to collect the running water while it heats up. Then I save that bucket of water to use later for the plants or for boiling tea or even for washing my feets :)

3) When taking a shower are there times you could turn the water off? The answer is yes and you know it! And while this tip is probably the hardest for American people to adjust to, when living in Spain and in South Korea, they were more conscious of their water use and it was a requirement/common courtesy to turn off the water when you were lathering up. Yes it gets chilly, but if you want to really conserve water, one of the best ways is to cut back in the shower! Or even better...shower less! It's bad for your hair to shower everyday anyway.

4) Didn't think I'd have to mention this, but if you don't already turn off the water when you are brushing your teeth, this would also fall under the Eco-tip: Don't let water go down the drain! Duh...

Any other thoughts on saving water? Please comment!