Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘carbon footprint’ Category

Our Earth HourS – Reporting in

Posted in carbon footprint, Earth Hour, Eco-Friendly, Energy-Efficiency, Environment, tagged , , , , , on March 30, 2011 | 2 Comments »


Baaa .... Baaaad

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 to be conscious and try not to consume energy. We chose this day and these hours because we knew it would be a “normal day” of tasks focused at home. A day of hiking in the country would show us nothing about our normal home consumption. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Earth HourS

Posted in carbon footprint, Earth Hour, Energy-Efficiency, Environment, tagged , on March 25, 2011 |


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 (around 6:30 a.m.) through until 6:30 pm when we leave to go to friends’ for dinner (hence the non-participation on our part), we’re going to do our best to reduce our energy consumption to its absolute minimum. We’ll see how conscious we can be — and we’ll take note of our “indulgences”, if any. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Plastic (we hope) simplified

Posted in carbon footprint, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Plastic, tagged , , , , , , 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 bottles and plastic in general wasn’t covered: The direct impact on our health!

Note: Finding what can be assumed to be independent, dependable and up-to-date information on the truths behind plastic water bottles and plastic was anything but easy. I thought I’d share with you what I was able to find in the way of “facts” and “reasonable conclusions”. (more…)

Read Full Post »

The best ways to say “I love you”

Posted in Buy Local, carbon footprint, Eco-Friendly, Gift Giving, Local Food, Organic Food, tagged , , , , 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 “… care enough to send the very best”, right? Well, keep in mind that these days, part of the “very best” means organic and Fair Trade.

Why?

First of all, by buying organic you’re ensuring that your loved one isn’t inhaling poisonous chemicals. If that’s not enough reason, (more…)

Read Full Post »

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 study he remembered from years ago, which came to be known as “Ein Jogurt geht auf Reisen” (“Journey of a Yogurt”). A fascinating study! (more…)

Read Full Post »

Action for safe cosmetics

Posted in Animal Conservation & Welfare, breast Cancer, Cancer, carbon footprint, Diseases, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Product Safety, women's health, tagged , , , , , , on January 28, 2011 | 4 Comments »


From "The Story of Cosmetics"

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, in addition, I think it’s important that we help the beauty industry do their own makeover to keep us, future generations, and our wildlife and environment safe.

Simple actions we can all take (more…)

Read Full Post »

Search for safe beauty solutions

Posted in Cancer, carbon footprint, Diseases, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Product Safety, reproductive health, women's health, tagged , , , , , , 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, personally, don’t believe in scare tactics as a motivator — mostly because they depress and de-motivate me. On top of that, if I presented the findings, I‘d have to take action, too. So, I put it all aside, and Nils and I went along our merry way doing other Impact efforts. I closed my eyes and buried my head in the sand.

From The Story of Cosmetics

No more rose-colored glasses

But, I found myself looking at the cosmetics and hair and skin products in our home with a jaundiced eye. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Don’t pitch your holiday cards!

Posted in carbon footprint, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Recycling, tagged , , , , , , on January 20, 2011 | 10 Comments »


This year's holiday cards

… 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 her charity church bazaar.

Try it yourself

recycled cards

My friend, Sylvia‘s mother-in-law collects her family and friends’ holiday cards, cuts out the images, pastes them on new card stock, adds a dash of this and a sticker of that, and … Voila! (see right)… beautiful new cards. Not so complicated (even I can do it ;-) ). And, it’s fun. (more…)

Read Full Post »

E-Waste: What to do with yours?

Posted in carbon footprint, E-waste, Eco-Friendly, Environment, tagged , , , , , , 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 about 2 million tons of e-waste per year. More recently, estimates claim that the UK generates 1.8 million tons per year. In a 2009 report, the UN assessed that worldwide, we generate as much as 50 million tons per year. These mountains of e-waste contain lead, mercury, cadmium, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), and other toxins (more…)

Read Full Post »

Week 50: Greening toward 2011

Posted in Buy Local, carbon footprint, Eco-Friendly, Energy-Efficiency, Environment, Local Food, Organic Food, Plastic, Water conservation, tagged , , , , 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 that if we all had to regularly face the inconvenience and this “in your face” look at what we’re doing to our planet, we’d re-think and take greater care about what we consume and how we treat our Earth. I know that my attitude and habits have changed since this first trip ever to our dump. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 36 other followers