Tips on How To Be Green In Your Community

Organize a Neighborhood Cleanup in 6 Steps
Make a bold green move: Get your community to work for the green. These six tips make it easy.

By Brian Merchant

It's probably true that one of the greenest things you can do is talk to friends, family, neighbors, and other community members about acting in an environmentally friendly manner. And the logical next step is to turn that talk into action-once you're comfortable, of course. A good way of doing this is organizing a neighborhood cleanup.

And it's really not as difficult as you might imagine-most people are entirely open to helping green their community. So one easy way to organize an eco-active event is designate one day a month (at least at first) to get together with neighbors and orchestrate a community cleanup. Here are some simple tips to get you started, if you're interested:

• Talk to your neighbors about the idea first, and mention the obvious pros-nicer looking streets, healthier plants and wildlife (and grass), and safer, uncontaminated groundwater.
• Propose forming a casual, non-committal group-Neighborhood Watch did it; this is Neighborhood Green.
• Have an informal meeting, and discuss your goals (one day a month trash pickup is a suggestion) and when a good day for a cleanup is.
• Procure gloves for each person and two bags for each group-one for recycling and one for trash.
• Meet on the given day, and spend a half hour to an hour combing the streets for garbage.
• Have fun-this could be a great way to meet neighbors who share some common interests, and an opportunity to spend some time out of the house with friends.

Your community will appreciate it!

Source: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/bold-green-neighborhood-cleanup.html

How Will Climate Change Affect Your Hometown?

The U.S. government is working on models that can help you find out.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Departments of Energy and Agriculture are teaming up to predict region-specific effects of climate change. "Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction Using Earth System Models" is a $50 million-a-year computer modeling program that will illustrate regional effects of a changing climate, from disappearing coastlines to temperature changes to ocean acidification to severity of droughts.

The idea is that the more people-or industries-understand how they are likely to be affected, the better they can prepare themselves. Agricultural interests could benefit widely from the program, as crop failure and reduced harvest of crops such as wheat are already being seen.

Improved versions of the modeling program are expected in the next three years, and as development efforts continue, the number of ecological factors that can be accounted for in the model should increase, as well as how region-specific the predictions can get, potentially down to state-wide levels or even individual (large) cities.

(Source: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/climate-change-affect-hometown.html)

Paper, Plastic, or Something Better?

Reusable Bags Are Best for Both Consumers and the Environment
The next time the clerk at your favorite grocery store asks whether you prefer “paper or plastic” for your purchases, consider giving the truly eco-friendly response and saying, “neither.”

Plastic bags end up as litter that fouls the landscape, and kill thousands of marine mammals every year that mistake the floating bags for food. Plastic bags that get buried in landfills may take up to 1,000 years to break down, and in the process they separate into smaller and smaller toxic particles that contaminate soil and water. Furthermore, the production of plastic bags consume millions of gallons of oil that could be used for fuel and heating.

Is Paper Better Than Plastic?
Paper bags, which many people consider a better alternative to plastic bags, carry their own set of environmental problems. For example, according to the American Forest and Paper Association, in 1999 the U.S. alone used 10 billion paper grocery bags, which adds up to a lot of trees.

Reusable Bags Are a Better Option
But if you decline both paper and plastic bags, then how do you get your groceries home? The answer, according to many environmentalists, is high-quality reusable shopping bags made of materials that don’t harm the environment during production and don’t need to be discarded after each use. [You can find a good selection of high-quality reusable bags online at reusablebags.com. In addition, many organic grocery stores and consumer co-operatives carry reusable shopping bags.]

Experts estimate that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed and discarded annually worldwide—more than a million per minute.

Here are a few facts about plastic bags to help demonstrate the value of reusable bags—to consumers and the environment:

• Plastic bags aren’t biodegradable. They actually go through a process called photodegradation—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic particles that contaminate both soil and water, and end up entering the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them.
• According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year. Of those, approximately 100 billion are plastic shopping bags, which cost retailers about $4 billion annually.
• According to various estimates, Taiwan consumes 20 billion plastic bags annually (900 per person), Japan consumes 300 billion bags each year (300 per person), and Australia consumes 6.9 billion plastic bags annually (326 per person).
• Hundreds of thousands of whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other marine mammals die every year after eating discarded plastic bags they mistake for food.
• Discarded plastic bags have become so common in Africa they have spawned a cottage industry. People there collect the bags and use them to weave hats, bags and other goods. According to the BBC, one such group routinely collects 30,000 bags every month.
• Plastic bags as litter have even become commonplace in Antarctica and other remote areas. According to David Barnes, a marine scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have gone from being rare in the late 1980s and early 1990s to being almost everywhere in Antarctica.

Some governments have recognized the severity of the problem and are taking action to help combat it.

Strategic Taxes Can Cut Plastic Bag Use
In 2001, for example, Ireland was using 1.2 billion plastic bags annually, about 316 per person. In 2002, the Irish government imposed a plastic bag consumption tax (called a PlasTax), which has reduced consumption by 90 percent. The tax of $.15 per bag is paid by consumers when they check out at the store. Besides cutting back on litter, Ireland’s tax has saved approximately 18 million liters of oil. Several other governments around the world are now considering a similar tax on plastic bags.

Governments Use the Law to Limit Plastic Bags
More recently, Japan passed a law that empowers the government to issue warnings to merchants that overuse plastic bags and don’t do enough to “reduce, reuse or recycle.” In Japanese culture, it is common for stores to wrap each item in its own bag, which the Japanese consider a matter of both good hygiene and respect or politeness.

Companies Making Tough Choices
Meanwhile, some eco-friendly companies—such as Toronto’s Mountain Equipment Co-op—are voluntarily exploring ethical alternatives to plastic bags, turning to biodegradable bags made from corn. The corn-based bags cost several times more than plastic bags, but are produced using much less energy and will break down in landfills or composters in four to 12 weeks.

(Source: http://environment.about.com/od/recycling/a/reusablebags.htm)

10 Steps to Becoming a Locavore

By Jennifer Maiser

Locavores are people who pay attention to where their food comes from and commit to eating local food as much as possible. The great thing about eating local is that it's not an all-or-nothing venture. Any small step you take helps the environment, protects your family's health and supports small farmers in your area.

The first step to being a locavore is to determine what local means for you. This is an individual decision that should feel comfortable for you and your family. Many locavores start by trying to eat within a 100-mile radius from their homes and then adjust where necessary, sometimes encompassing an area as large as an entire state or region. The important thing is that by creating a boundary, no matter how large, you are becoming conscious of food's origin. Draw a 100-mile circle around your home to guide your food choices.

10 Ways to Become a Locavore

1) Visit a farmers' market. Farmers' markets keep small farms in business through direct sales. Rather than going through a middleman, the farmer takes home nearly all of the money that you hand him or her for a delectable apple or a wonderful bunch of grapes. Need to find a market in your area? The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a listing at www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets

2) Lobby your supermarket. Ask your supermarket manager where your meat, produce and dairy is coming from. Remember that market managers are trained to realize that for each person actually asking the question, several others want to know the same answer. Let the market managers know what's important to you! Your show of interest is crucial to help the supermarket change its purchasing practices.

3) Choose 5 foods in your house that you can buy locally.Rather than trying to source everything locally all at once, try swapping out just 5 local foods. Fruits and vegetables that can be grown throughout the continental U.S. include apples, root vegetables, lettuce, herbs and greens. In most areas, it's also possible to find meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and cheese-all grown, harvested and produced close to your home.

4) Find a local CSA and sign-up!Through a CSA-Community Supported Agriculture-program you invest in a local farm in exchange for a weekly box of assorted vegetables and other farm products. Most CSA programs provide a discount if you pre-pay for your share on a quarterly or yearly basis because a pre-payment allows the farm to use the cash in the springtime when money is needed for farm equipment or investment in the farm. CSA programs take the work out of buying local food, as the farmer does the worrying for you.

5) Preserve a local food for the winter.There's still time! Though we are headed into winter, many areas still have preservable fruits and vegetables available. Try your hand at making applesauce, apple butter and quince paste. To learn about safe preserving techniques, go to the National Center for Home Food Preservation at www.uga.edu.nchfp.

6) Find out what restaurants in your area support local farmers. You can do this by asking the restaurants about their ingredients directly, or by asking your favorite farmers what restaurant accounts they have. Frequent the businesses that support your farmers.

7) Host a local Thanksgiving. Make a dish or an entire meal from local foods.

8) Buy from local vendors. Can't find locally grown? How about locally produced? Many areas have locally produced jams, jellies and breads as well as locally roasted coffee and locally created confections. While these businesses may not always use strictly local ingredients in their products, by purchasing them you are supporting the local economy.

9) Ask about origins. Not locally grown? Then where is it from? Call the producer of your favorite foods to see where the ingredients are from. You'll be amazed how many large processed food companies are unable to tell you where your food came from. By continuing to ask the questions we are sending a message to the companies that consumers want to know the origin of ingredients.

10) Visit a farm. Find a farm in your area and call to make an appointment to see the farm. When time allows, the farmers are usually happy to show a family or a group around the farm. When you visit, ask the farmers what challenges they have had and why they choose to grow what they are growing. Be sure to take the kids along on this journey! Children need to know where their food is coming from in order to feel a sense of connection to their dinner.

Source: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1917458,00.html & http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/344/locavore.html

Benefits of Tree Plantings

Air Quality

- Trees absorb carbon diox0ide and give us oxygen in return.
- Trees help remove lung-damaging dust, ash, and smoke from the air.
- Trees provide shade which reduces temperatures in urban areas.
- Trees lessen the impact of urban "heat island" effect and reduce changes in weather patterns.

Water Quality

- Tree leaves and roots act as natural water filters that trap pollutants.
- Trees help slow the movement of storm water which reduces soil erosion and flooding.
- Trees help prevent sediment, nutrients and chemicals from getting into streams.
- Trees help water enter the ground and recharge water tables.
- Trees provide shade which reduces temperatures in streams benefiting many aquatic organisms.

Economic Benefits

- Trees boost the market value of your home.
- Trees properly placed around buildings reduce air conditioning and heating costs.
- Trees reduce the need or community facilities that control storm water.
- Trees can help stimulate economic development, attracting new businesses and tourism.

Tips for Tree Planting

Bailed and burlapped trees:
Dig a hole twice as wide as, and slightly shallower than, the rootball. Remove the string or wire holding the burlap to the root ball, and gently place the ball in the hole.

Fill with soil, lightly tamping the soil to collapse air pockets.

Finish by forming a temporary water basin around the tree; water and mulch an area about 3 feet in diameter.

Bare root method:
Dig the planting hole wide and shallow. The hole should be 2 - 3 times wider in all directions than the root spread. Do not loosen the soil that will be underneath the root system; instead concentrate on creating loose soil horizontally for the spreading roots.

Turf surrounding the tree should be completely removed so it doesn't compete with the newly planted tree for water.

Plant the tree so that the beginning of the root flare is visible at soil level. It is critical not to plant the tree too deep.

Backfill with the native soil that you have removed. When you've replaced half of the backfill, water the hole to help collapse air pockets. Finish backfilling, and gently firm soil. Make sure the soil is not mounded against the trunk.

(Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture; http://www.nj.nrcs.usda.gov/documents/TreePlantingBenefits.pdf)

AIRNow, local agencies and AQI

The U.S. Government provides a central website, AIRNow.gov, to show air quality conditions as well as air quality forecasts across the country. In partnership with local agencies, they've developed an Air Quality Index (AQI). It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you.

The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. Think of the AQI as a yardstick that runs from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concern. For example, an AQI value of 50 represents good air quality with little potential to affect public health, while an AQI value over 300 represents hazardous air quality.

However, you don't need to constantly check the AIRNow website. Many local agencies have set up alerts to let you know when the air quality in your area is unhealthy. You can receive an email or text message alert or sometimes listen for the announcements on the radio. On those alert days, there are several easy things you can do to help cut down on the air pollution in your community including:

Taking public transit - in some cases your local trains or subway may offer free tickets for the day
Buy local and link your trips - take shorter driving trips and group your errands to use less gas
Power down - save money and the environment by reducing your electricity usage.
Avoid burning wood - fireplaces and wood-burning stoves can produce a lot of air pollution
Avoid using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment

(Source: airnow.gov )

The Green Squad

Join The Green Squad for safer, healthier schools
The future of our environment lies with our future – our children. To help educate youth on the importance of environmental conservation and the benefits of recycling, The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has set up The Green Squad in collaboration with the Healthy Schools Network.

Keeping kids plugged in.
The squad’s website first provides a virtual school that students can tour to help them uncover potential problems and possible solutions in their schools.

The site also provides fact sheets on topics, such as how to keep bugs away without using chemical pesticides that students can bring to teachers and administrators. By sharing ideas with their teachers, kids can earn points towards certificates, such as Green Shield Detective or Squad Leader. To keep track of their efforts and progress, they can access report cards.

EnergySmart schools help lower taxes for everyone

EnergySmart Schools
EnergySmart Schools mean healthier children and teachers – and a healthy planet. They also save money for America's school districts.

Why EnergySmart Schools?

• Schools spend more on energy than any other expense except personnel.
• A high-performance school doesn't have to cost more to construct than a conventionally built school.
• High-performance schools can lower a school district's operating costs by up to 30%.
• Energy is one of the few expenses a school can reduce without sacrificing educational quality.
• Schools are central to the communities they serve and should reflect community values – like energy and resource conservation.
• Schools are a great place to teach the nation's children about energy and resource conservation.

(Source: http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energysmartschools/)

School spirit includes a nationwide commitment to go green

Back to School - Five Green, Eco-Friendly Tips For Sending Your Kids Back to School This Year
Can you believe its back to school time already? For many of you, summer vacations have come and gone and you're now ready for back to school time for your kids. In thinking back, wasn't it exciting? I remember as a child, we'd always take our yearly family vacation, usually in July, and though it was always a lot of fun, come August, I seemed to always be excited and looking forward to going back to school again.

Well, as you're busy getting your kids ready to start the new school year again, or even if they've already started like in my local neighborhood, here are a few tips for you to help you get ready this year the green and eco-friendly way!

1. Buy Local & Organic Foods & Snacks: A great way to help your child stay healthy and eco-friendly this school year is to send them off with their own pre-packed lunches. This way you know that as a mom you are helping them get the best nutrition as possible during their day. In deciding what to pack, I recommend choosing local and organic foods and snacks. A few excellent choices are fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts. And know that when you choose to buy organic and locally produced food, you are not only providing healthier nutrition for your kids, you are also helping to support your local farmers and economy as well as the environment too.

2. Use Reusable Plastic Containers: Another great thing you can do to be green & eco-friendly this school year is to pack your kids healthy organic lunches using only reusable plastic containers. By using reusable plastic containers, you are helping to reduce the enormous mounds of waste that gets hauled out in garbage bags each day to be dumped into land fills from lunches made from pre-packaged food containers and plastic bags. When I was a child, it wasn't very cool to carry your own lunch box container especially if it was plastic and made from Tupperware. However, times have changed and happily so. Now we have the opportunity to teach our children that it IS cool to bring their own lunch containers because it's simply the right, green & eco-friendly thing to do.

3. Don't Forget to Recycle: While speaking about waste and garbage, don't forget to recycle. Whether it's the packaging from your organic food purchases or the paper waste products from your kids school lessons and projects, remember to recycle. If you haven't started recycling in your home yet, don't worry, it's never too late to start and it's very easy too. In your garage or wherever you have some extra space in your home, start by setting up a few extra trash buckets and label them. Things you should recycle are plastic containers, steel/tin/aluminum containers, milk cartons, cardboard boxes/containers, paper, and batteries. Then check within your local community to see if they have a recycling program or if there is a regular schedule for recycled trash pick up in your neighborhood.

4. Save Energy: Walk, Take the Bus or Carpool it: This school year encourage your child to walk to school, if it's at all possible, and save energy. This way you are also helping your child to get exercise and stay fit which is so important with the child obesity rate as high as what it currently is in this country. Or, if walking to school just isn't feasible, you can also encourage them to take the bus whether it's the public transportation system in your city or your school district's yellow bus. However, if you still prefer or need to drive your child to school everyday, you can cut down on your gasoline bill and consumption as well as reduce your carbon emissions by suggesting to form a car pool with other local neighborhood mothers who may also prefer or need to drive their child to school.

5. Purchase Eco-friendly, Recycled School Supplies: And last but not least, purchase school supplies that are eco-friendly, non-toxic and constructed from recycled materials. Purchasing eco-friendly for your back to school supplies doesn't have to break the budget either. Now you can purchase green, eco-friendly school supply kits containing paper, folders, pencils, colored markers, crayons, scissors, etc. all for less than $20 which is a fantastic deal and well worth it as you will feel good knowing that you are buying better, safer, and healthier items for your kids as well as for the environment.

(Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Back-to-School---Five-Green,-Eco-Friendly-Tips-For-Sending-Your-Kids-Back-to-School-This-Year&id=1414163)

Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds: something's in the air
You can't see them, but they're all around us. They aren't listed as ingredients on the objects we bring in our home, but they're often there. They're volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, a wide range of carbon-based molecules (organic compounds) used in a wide range of products that find their way into our homes. Under normal conditions, they vaporize, effectively leaving their host and entering the air (that's the "volatile" part) where they combine with other airborne compounds to form ozone, which isn't good to breathe. Though they exist everywhere in the environment -- the most common volatile organic compound is methane, which comes from everything from wetlands to cow farts and other ruminant gases to rice agriculture -- they are most well-known for the harm they can cause indoors, where they can be introduced via paint, carpets, furnishings, and cleaning agents.

Where do volatile organic compounds cause problems?
Indoor environments are where volatile organic compounds are most dangerous to us; they contribute to poor indoor air quality, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates is often two to five times worse than the air outside, but concentrations of VOCs can be up to 1,000 times greater indoors than out! Common VOCs include formaldehyde, used in many glues and adhesives, including those found in wood veneers, plywood and particle board, and polyurethane, which is used in many foams, paints, varnishes, and construction sealants.

VOCs and respiratory health
As we noted in our Green Basics column about indoor air pollution, if there are volatile organic compounds in a product, there are VOCs that can off-gas into the air, creating a danger to human health when they do. At high concentrations, some VOCs can cause chronic and acute health effects; others are known carcinogens. But even low to moderate levels of multiple VOCs can produce acute reactions. Bottom line:  Avoid volatile organic compounds as much as possible. Oddly, VOC regulation varies from country to country; learn more about VOC definitions and regulations near you.

VOCs: different definitions in different places
Interestingly, though they're all the same substances, the definition of "volatile organic compound" varies by locale. The U.S. EPA defines VOCs as "any compound of carbon, excluding carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, metallic carbides or carbonates, and ammonium carbonate, which participates in atmospheric photochemical reactions”, but also includes a list of dozens of exceptions for compounds “determined to have negligible photochemical reactivity."

Volatile organic compounds and air quality standards
Under European law, the definition of a VOC is based on evaporation into the atmosphere, rather than reactivity, and the British coatings industry has adopted a labeling scheme for all decorative coatings to inform customers about the levels of organic solvents and other volatile materials present. Split into five levels, or "bands", these span minimal, low, medium, high, and very high.

In the U.S., various rules apply to labeling products, too. A "no-VOC" paint, for example, must have fewer than five grams of VOCs per liter; latex paints containing less than 250 grams per liter and alkyd paints with less than 380 may be labeled as "low-VOC." However, adding pigment typically adds VOCs, and since testing is typically completed before color is added, VOC levels can vary widely from these parameters. Now that you know what they are, learn how to avoid VOCs.

Avoiding volatile organic compounds and improving indoor air quality
Water-based glues, adhesives, finishes, and soy-based foams will help keep VOC levels to a minimum in furnishings and decor. Buying green cleaners helps ensure that you aren't adding toxins to the air when you clean them. For further reading, check out green household paint alternatives, learn how to monitor VOC levels in your home and get the low-down on "vapor intrusion". VOCs contribute to Sick Building Syndrome (which is another post), and the EPA has good basic info on how the two relate, and more info on VOCs. Get the facts, and start breathing easier in your home today.

(Source: Treehugger, www.treehugger.com/green-basics)