Well, we indeed made it through our 12 “Earth HourS” this past Saturday. It was an interesting experiment, some things to be proud of, but we’re also both feeling a bit sheepish. We chose 6:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26th, 2011 as our Earth HourS — when we would do our best [...]
Archive for the ‘carbon footprint’ Category
Our Earth HourS – Reporting in
Posted in carbon footprint, Earth Hour, Eco-Friendly, Energy-Efficiency, Environment, tagged climate change, Earth Hour, Earth Hours, energy conservation, standby power, vampire power on March 30, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Earth HourS
Posted in carbon footprint, Earth Hour, Energy-Efficiency, Environment, tagged Earth Hour, earth hour 2011. earth hour 2010 on March 25, 2011 | Comments Off
Tomorrow, Saturday, March 26th, 2011, at 8:30 p.m. local time, people all around the world will be participating in Earth Hour. Nils and I won’t be able to join in, so we’re going to try something else — a little experiment. We’re going to do Earth HourS! Starting from the time we normally wake up [...]
Plastic (we hope) simplified
Posted in carbon footprint, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Plastic, tagged baby bottles, ban bpa, Bisphenol A, BPA, endocrine disruptors, phthalates, plastic bottles on February 21, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Sylvia’s guest blog on bottled water, combined with the fascinating video on The Story of Bottled Water, served to reinforce what Nils and I already believe and suspect: There are so many good environmental, taste, and personal pocketbook reasons not to use plastic bottled water. But another very good reason to give up plastic water [...]
The best ways to say “I love you”
Posted in Buy Local, carbon footprint, Eco-Friendly, Gift Giving, Local Food, Organic Food, tagged eco-friendly gift giving, fair trade flowers, organic flowers, organic gifts, valentine's day on February 10, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Valentine’s Day: A big celebration day for florists around the world! In the U.S., it’s their number one holiday with as much as 20% of annual business. According to a CBS report, Americans will spend $1.7 billion on flowers for their sweeties. And you? As one of the long-time ads in the States says, you certainly [...]
The well-traveled yogurt
Posted in Buy Local, carbon footprint, Eco-Friendly, Environment, local eating, Local Food, Local harvest, Organic Food on February 7, 2011 | 2 Comments »
While I’ve been busy doing research and experimentation on the best and simplest way to make yogurt, you might think that Nils has been sitting back and just enjoying the fruits of his wife’s new passion. Au contraire! Or I should say (in German) Im Gegenteil! During my ventures into the world of lactobacillus, Nils was looking for a [...]
Action for safe cosmetics
Posted in Animal Conservation & Welfare, breast Cancer, Cancer, carbon footprint, Diseases, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Product Safety, women's health, tagged Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, cosmetic safety, Safe Cosmetic Act, safe cosmetics, Story of Cosmetics, Story of Stuff, Triclosan on January 28, 2011 | 4 Comments »
Earlier in the week, I presented a dilemma I had last year with the cosmetic industry. I was shocked to discover what we’re putting on our and our children’s faces, bodies, and even in our mouths (in toothpastes). I shared my own natural beauty solutions, which I hope you’ll consider and adapt for yourself. But, [...]
Search for safe beauty solutions
Posted in Cancer, carbon footprint, Diseases, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Product Safety, reproductive health, women's health, tagged cosmetic safety, homemade beauty recipes, lead in lipsticks, natural skin care, parabens, safe cosmetics, thimerosal on January 25, 2011 | 4 Comments »
About eight months ago I began a descent toward hell. With the intent of doing an Impact Effort on commercially-made beauty products, I started doing research into ingredients typically included in these items. What I found was disturbing, in many cases, frightening. My dilemma: I didn’t know how to present my findings to YOU. I, [...]
Don’t pitch your holiday cards!
Posted in carbon footprint, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Recycling, tagged greeting cards, holiday cards, re-purposing, Recycled Card Program, recycling, St. Jude's Ranch for Children, up-cycling on January 20, 2011 | 10 Comments »
… give them a new life! All your used holiday cards can be recycled, up-cycled (made into something even nicer — I love this word), or re-purposed. I’ve already re-purposed some of our cards (see “Try it yourself” below), and a few others I’m donating to a friend who recycles them into cards sold at [...]
E-Waste: What to do with yours?
Posted in carbon footprint, E-waste, Eco-Friendly, Environment, tagged e-stewards, E-waste, Ecycling, Electronics TakeBack Coalition, Plug-in Parntership, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Waste Online on January 12, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Was Santa Claus good to you this year, too? Did you get that new 3D flat screen TV, new iPad or iPhone, PC/Mac upgrade, or other techno-gadget? Congratulations, join the crowd and enjoy! But, what to do with the old? Why Care? In 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States estimated that the U.S. alone generates [...]
Week 50: Greening toward 2011
Posted in Buy Local, carbon footprint, Eco-Friendly, Energy-Efficiency, Environment, Local Food, Organic Food, Plastic, Water conservation, tagged Green Resolutions, re-purpose, recycle, reduce, reuse on December 31, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Garbage day on our farm in South Africa doesn’t mean rolling a big green garbage bin out to the front lawn for pick-up. It means, hauling the bag(s) into the back of the car and driving 40 minutes on mostly country roads to our dump. This is what we saw during Week 50. I believe [...]


