After months of suffering under 5 foot drifts of snow, all those perennials I broke my back (and bank) planting last summer are peeking their brilliant little green fonds through the layers of rotting leaves and dried grass. There are even a few odd crocus bulbs blooming in the front rocks (I planted them 2 falls ago and had all but given up on the little buggers).
And along with all these sweet signs of spring come the vicious thorns of weeds. It seems as though the thistle, dandelion and ground ivy have taken off more vigorously than most anything else in the yard. So - I spent my sunny Sunday morning plucking more weeds than a cross-dresser does eyebrow hairs to give the new shoots a fighting chance. Let's say I went about it the old fashioned way.
My neighbors, however, do not seem to appreciate this hands-on approach.
As I walked Affrey home from a rousing game of Chuck-It tennis ball chasing at my local elementary school, I noticed one of my neighbors walking through her front lawn, auspicious green and yellow spray bottle in hand, targeting her nasty lawn pests with a sharp spray of noxious chemicals. On her sidewalk, just above the street drain, is a friendly reminder to "Do not dump. Drains to Poudre river."
Never mind the run off from her chemical laden lawn.
But what are we gardeners supposed to do? Fight the weeds every Sunday, armed with only garden gloves and one of those fork things to dig dandelions up by the root? What if I want to camping instead ... will the Columbines be forced to battle the ground ivy, unaided?
Not so! There are green alternatives to those nasty sprays you'll "round up" at the local Home Depot. Look for these earth-friendly (and pest-fighting) options:
Bioganic Home & Garden
Bioganic is naturally derived blend of Thyme, Clove, and Sesame oil that is safe around children and pets.
Deadeye
Natural and environmentally-safe weed and grass killer made with all-natural products, commonly found in home kitchens, so you can use it with peace of mind.
WOW!
Contains no lingering synthetic chemicals, so your family, friends and pets can enjoy your lawn right after you apply it! As it suppresses weeds, WOW! slowly releases nitrogen to keep your lawn green and beautiful.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Bagging Plastics
The remorse over buying those damn plastic baggies at Target is still looming in me.
With my stomach growling, I reached into my lunch bag for the mid-morning snack I had planned: Organic Wheat & Flaxseed crackers with Organic Peanut Butter. I was pretty excited to get to the treat as I was remembering the buttery deliciousness of the crackers from last night.
I gingerly pulled the first cracker from zip top plastic baggie it was stored in, schmeared it with PB and popped it in my mouth. Something did not taste right. I tried a couple more crackers to confirm the off-taste. Did the crackers taste plastic-y? Yes, it was a distinct plastic taste on my crackers.
The new baggie had leached its noxious scent and taste onto my deliciously organic snack!
So, I did a little research on the toxicity of plastics (hey, things are slow at work) and I couldn't find much on sandwich bags being bad (other than for the environment since they take up to 1000 years to break down and because we reuse our bags pretty much indefinitely, I'm feeling OK).
But, as a person who brings lunch (and an assortment of snacks) with me to work everyday, I was interested to learn the following about those trusty Tupperware containers:
Some types of plastics can leach traces of chemicals into foods and beverages. These chemicals include suspected carcinogens or endocrine disruptors, which have been linked to reproductive system harm. Plastic used for containers can be identified by their recycling codes, as listed below. Most wraps on pre-packaged foods lack identifying symbols. As a precaution, you can unwrap these foods and store them in nontoxic glass, ceramic or steel bowls, or Ziploc bags (made of LDPE). Heat promotes leaching: To be safest, never microwave or heat foods in plastics.
Plastics to avoid:
#3 Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC or vinyl)
Grocery stores commonly use PVC to wrap deli meats and cheeses. Reynolds cling wrap is PVC. Appalachian Mountain spring water and some vegetable oils are bottled in PVC. And PVC's manufacture and incineration produces highly toxic dioxins, as does the PVDC used in Saran Wrap
#6 Polystyrene (PS or Styrofoam)
Yeah, hi - I thought these went out in the early 90s when even McDonald's opted for a paper Big Mac box.
#7 Other Resins, including Polycarbonate (PC)
Most clear plastic baby bottles and 5-gallon water bottles are made of PC. Bisphenol-A, an EDC in PC, has been found in water and heated infant formulas bottled in PC, as well as food cans lined with a plastic film.
(info can be found on TheGreenGuide.com)
With my stomach growling, I reached into my lunch bag for the mid-morning snack I had planned: Organic Wheat & Flaxseed crackers with Organic Peanut Butter. I was pretty excited to get to the treat as I was remembering the buttery deliciousness of the crackers from last night.
I gingerly pulled the first cracker from zip top plastic baggie it was stored in, schmeared it with PB and popped it in my mouth. Something did not taste right. I tried a couple more crackers to confirm the off-taste. Did the crackers taste plastic-y? Yes, it was a distinct plastic taste on my crackers.
The new baggie had leached its noxious scent and taste onto my deliciously organic snack!
So, I did a little research on the toxicity of plastics (hey, things are slow at work) and I couldn't find much on sandwich bags being bad (other than for the environment since they take up to 1000 years to break down and because we reuse our bags pretty much indefinitely, I'm feeling OK).
But, as a person who brings lunch (and an assortment of snacks) with me to work everyday, I was interested to learn the following about those trusty Tupperware containers:
Some types of plastics can leach traces of chemicals into foods and beverages. These chemicals include suspected carcinogens or endocrine disruptors, which have been linked to reproductive system harm. Plastic used for containers can be identified by their recycling codes, as listed below. Most wraps on pre-packaged foods lack identifying symbols. As a precaution, you can unwrap these foods and store them in nontoxic glass, ceramic or steel bowls, or Ziploc bags (made of LDPE). Heat promotes leaching: To be safest, never microwave or heat foods in plastics.
Plastics to avoid:
#3 Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC or vinyl)
Grocery stores commonly use PVC to wrap deli meats and cheeses. Reynolds cling wrap is PVC. Appalachian Mountain spring water and some vegetable oils are bottled in PVC. And PVC's manufacture and incineration produces highly toxic dioxins, as does the PVDC used in Saran Wrap
#6 Polystyrene (PS or Styrofoam)
Yeah, hi - I thought these went out in the early 90s when even McDonald's opted for a paper Big Mac box.
#7 Other Resins, including Polycarbonate (PC)
Most clear plastic baby bottles and 5-gallon water bottles are made of PC. Bisphenol-A, an EDC in PC, has been found in water and heated infant formulas bottled in PC, as well as food cans lined with a plastic film.
(info can be found on TheGreenGuide.com)
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Breaking the habit
Some habits are hard to break. Like smoking. Or drinking Diet Coke.
For me, it's shopping for common household goods at Target. Last week, I had a list of items we were out of: dishwasher detergent, trash bags and lunch baggies. The thought to shop for these at my local natural grocery never even entered my mind. Seriously. I always shop for this stuff at Target - it's ingrained in me.
And so, I walked over to Target on my lunch break, happily picked up my items and placed them in my canvas Wild Oats tote bag. I didn't even think about the implications of what I bought until several days later when I popped a detergent cube in the dishwasher.
I could have easily opted for earth-friendly Seventh Generation recycled plastic bags and Ecover Dishwasher fluid when I was grocery shopping (plus saved myself an extra trip) - but it isn't in my buying habits to shop for household goods at Wild Oats or Whole Foods. It's a no-brainer to buy the organic-labeled foods, but when it comes to other goods, I haven't trained myself yet.
So, what do I do now - with my pantry full of toxic goods? Can I take back the unopened box of trash bags (which, it turns out we didn't need anyway)?
I guess I will learn my lesson and hope to do better next time.
For me, it's shopping for common household goods at Target. Last week, I had a list of items we were out of: dishwasher detergent, trash bags and lunch baggies. The thought to shop for these at my local natural grocery never even entered my mind. Seriously. I always shop for this stuff at Target - it's ingrained in me.
And so, I walked over to Target on my lunch break, happily picked up my items and placed them in my canvas Wild Oats tote bag. I didn't even think about the implications of what I bought until several days later when I popped a detergent cube in the dishwasher.
I could have easily opted for earth-friendly Seventh Generation recycled plastic bags and Ecover Dishwasher fluid when I was grocery shopping (plus saved myself an extra trip) - but it isn't in my buying habits to shop for household goods at Wild Oats or Whole Foods. It's a no-brainer to buy the organic-labeled foods, but when it comes to other goods, I haven't trained myself yet.
So, what do I do now - with my pantry full of toxic goods? Can I take back the unopened box of trash bags (which, it turns out we didn't need anyway)?
I guess I will learn my lesson and hope to do better next time.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Green-gos in Mexico
So, I took a month off of blogging ... but that doesn't mean I've gone back to my brown-life living ways. Nope, just working away and took a little holiday to visit our neighbors to the South ... which brings me to today's Welcome Back Blogger topic: eating organic on foreign travels.
Marc and I (along with 8 fabulous friends + 2 babies) spent the last week soaking up the sun, surf, sand and our share of cervezas in Sayulita, Mexico - a sleepy little town north of Puerto Vallarta. Basically, I discovered it's impossible to eat "organic" in Sayulita. There are no artfully drawn chalkboards listing the day's organic produce at the store like you'll find at Whole Foods, but considering the ever-changing abundance of tropical fruit and vegetables available in the tiny tiendas every day, I figured it had to be coming from local growers. And in my mind, eating local produce is the next best thing to organic.
One day, Molly bought camarones from a cooler on the back of an old Ford truck in town. While this might sound absolutely disgusting to most people, we knew that the shrimp had been plucked from the ocean that very morning, from the waters right out our beachfront villa door. It doesn't get any fresher than that ... and with Lamia's spicy touch, we feasted on the best tasting shrimp I've ever had. We supported the local fishing economy, shrunk our footprint on the earth by buying locally (less fossil fuels used to transport the food) and enjoyed WILD shrimp, not the farm-raised crap pumped with man-made food and added coloring. Big win for green living!
Marc and I (along with 8 fabulous friends + 2 babies) spent the last week soaking up the sun, surf, sand and our share of cervezas in Sayulita, Mexico - a sleepy little town north of Puerto Vallarta. Basically, I discovered it's impossible to eat "organic" in Sayulita. There are no artfully drawn chalkboards listing the day's organic produce at the store like you'll find at Whole Foods, but considering the ever-changing abundance of tropical fruit and vegetables available in the tiny tiendas every day, I figured it had to be coming from local growers. And in my mind, eating local produce is the next best thing to organic.
One day, Molly bought camarones from a cooler on the back of an old Ford truck in town. While this might sound absolutely disgusting to most people, we knew that the shrimp had been plucked from the ocean that very morning, from the waters right out our beachfront villa door. It doesn't get any fresher than that ... and with Lamia's spicy touch, we feasted on the best tasting shrimp I've ever had. We supported the local fishing economy, shrunk our footprint on the earth by buying locally (less fossil fuels used to transport the food) and enjoyed WILD shrimp, not the farm-raised crap pumped with man-made food and added coloring. Big win for green living!
Marc and I took the task of hunting down local food even further when we joined Captain Ching-A-Ling on the mighty barco "Nemo" for an afternoon of Dorado fishing. We (Marc) reeled in 2 massive fish that we (Me) turned into a gorgeous spread of ceviche and grilled Mahi tacos for our bon voyage dinner.
So I didn't dine on organic spring green salad with biodynamic red wine dressing, but I also didn't bring it all home in toxic plastic baggies and I had the freedom to walk to and from the market every day - talking with Carmen, the tamale lady, herself and asking Ching-A-Ling's wife, Vicky, her favorite way to prepare Mahi.
And that, my friends, is green living at its finest.
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