Globally Green Living

Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx, talks about creating green jobs and improving the environment in this inspiring presentation at TED in 2006.

She’s an activist for environmental justice and breaks it down for those who don’t know what that means. “No community should be saddled with more environmental burdens and less environmental benefits than any other.”

Today we’re featuring Within Temptation, a band from the Netherlands I have only been exposed to in the last year but they’ve been around for awhile.

I love their unique haunting style which has been described as Gothic Rock and Symphonic Metal. Sharon manages to sing both sweetly, softly and powerfully while the guitars and rest of the band follow suit seamlessly.

First up of course is Mother Earth:

Birds and butterflies
Rivers and mountains she creates
But you’ll never know
The next move she’ll make
You can try
But it is useless to ask why
Cannot control her
She goes her own way

She rules until the end of time
She gives and she takes
She rules until the end of time
She goes her own way

With every breath
And all the choices that we make
We are only passing through on her way
I find my strength
Believing that your soul lives on
Until the end of time
I’ll carry it with me

Once you will know my dear
You don’t have to fear
A new beginning always starts at the end
Until the end of time
She goes her own way
(Thanks to DarkLyrics.com)

• Another fitting song from Within Temptation is Stand My Ground.

I can see when you stay low nothing happens
Does it feel right ?

Late at night things I thought I put behind me,
haunt my mind

I just know there’s no escape now, once it sets it’s eyes on you
but I won’t run, have to stare it in the eye

Stand my ground, I won’t give in
No more denying, I gotta face it
Won’t close my eyes and hide the truth inside
If I don’t make it, someone else will
Stand My Ground

It’s all around getting stronger, coming closer
into my world

I can feel that it’s time for me to face it
can I take it?

Though this might just be the ending
of the life I held so dear
but I won’t run, there’s no turning back from here

Stand my ground, I won’t give in
No more denying, I gotta face it
Won’t close my eyes and hide the truth inside

(Thanks to Sing365.com)

I have been having fun searching for fabric today to create my own reusable shopping bag. I have several but they are all sort of generic looking and I wanted a personalized tote bag.

It will be fun making my daughter her own bag as well. She’s not into pink at the moment but likes the strange combination of black, hearts and skulls. Gothic I guess you would call it. I looked at several sites selling organic fabric but here are a few of my favorite discoveries.

PM Organics began with an organic fabric co-op consisting mostly of WAHMs who made baby clothes and cloth diapers.

Pei and Marie realized what a large demand there was for organic fabrics so decided to invest as much as they could and launched PM Organics. The fabric prices are reasonable, there’s a large selection and the site is easy to navigate.

• My initial source for a listing of online stores carrying organic fabrics was Victoria Everman’s eco-links for green yarn and fabrics. Victoria is a writer, model and environmentalist and she has a lot of wonderful green crafty ideas and instructions.

• Victoria also led me to Uhandbag. I got lost there for a long time because there are so many fun projects and ideas. The free instructions are wonderful and I think I will try the handy tote bag.

Check out Lisa Lam’s U-Handbag blog if you want to get lost too. She’s the owner of the online shop and I appreciate all her detailed instructions since I’m not an experienced seamstress. After spending enough time there I will at least know how to make a decent reuseable bag.

I chose to share What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong because it shows the contrast between the beauty and destruction of the earth. It’s a great video with footage of Louis singing to soldiers combined with clips from the movie Good Morning Vietnam.

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Here’s another fun recording in London, 1968 by Louis Armstrong called “Bare Necessities” It was of course used in the Disney movie Jungle Book.

Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature’s recipes
That brings the bare necessities of life
Wherever I wander, wherever I roam
I couldn’t be fonder of my big home
The bees are buzzin’ in the tree
To make some honey just for me
When you look under the rocks and plants
And take a glance at the fancy ants
Then maybe try a few
The bare necessities of life will come to you
They’ll come to you!
Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
That’s why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life

More at Song Lyrics: The Jungle Book

Solar cookers can be set up just about anywhere and don’t require wood or electricity.

A solar cooker workshop was a success in Nyala, Darfur as you can see on this video. Many women are vulnerable to violence when they leave their camps so this way they can safely cook and stay together.

I was impressed with how they learned to cook everything on it and even managed to bake bread and a cake. My bread sometimes flops with the best of conditions so seeing food people created with a solar cooker was inspiring.

Since people learned how to create the solar cooker to cook on, they didn’t have to search for firewood. There isn’t always a lot of firewood around because of deforestation so this also saves lives, time and trees.

Want to learn how to create your own solar cooker? You never know when you might need one and the instructions are easy to follow with simple supplies. Here’s the instructional video courtesy of Graham F. Knight on YouTube.

You can find more information on this project at BioDesign where you can request free pamphlets available to download.

I also found more great resources at SolarSlowCooker.com. There are recipes for vegetarian meals, steamed clams and chocolate fondue. There’s also detailed information on how the solar cooker works, cookbooks and cookers for sale.

I do wish it were spring because I don’t think I can catch much sun right now and want to try it. All this talk about food is making me hungry though so think I will give this rustic berry tart a go from Farley at Coaching Cooking.

HP announced they plan to use twice as much recycled plastic in their cartridges this year.

Last year they used 5 million pounds of recycled plastic to manufacture cartridges. They use both water bottles and old cartridges to manufacture new ones.

“By developing the technology to use recycled plastics in Original HP inkjet print cartridges, we have the opportunity to reduce the environmental impact HP products have on the planet,” said Michael Hoffmann, senior vice president, Supplies, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “HP’s considerable investments in building a recycling infrastructure made this achievement possible, and this is just the beginning of what we hope to accomplish.”(Palo Alto, CA, Jan.30, 2008, World-Wire)

This is in line with their Design for Environment Program that is working on reducing the impact they are making with packaging and cartridges. Epson also uses recycled plastic in their printing cartridges and I’m sure there are others hopping on board.

Refilling Cartridges and Toxic Ink

What about the ink though? Refilling makes the cartridge last longer. Have you ever used one of those kits? What a mess! It’s definitely cheaper but it’s also most inconvenient.

Some cartridges are easier than others are but I happen to have a harder one right now. It requires a tool to pull the whole top off the thing, which is bad enough. Then you have to somehow keep the ink from spilling all over your fingers, cartridge and what you have underneath to catch spills.

There are companies that manage to refill gracefully. Maybe they don’t because they do it in secret but I’m sure they have better tools than I do. It’s a good way to recycle anyway and make your cartridges last longer.

Unfortunately the ink is usually toxic in most printers. A printer does exist that prints with non-toxic ink. Xerox offers a non- toxic solid ink printer. It uses solid sticks that are good for the environment and is less messy to boot. Another bonus is that it will print on just about any type of paper and of course does not use cartridges.

Eww, pesticides have been found in Chinese dumplings. It sounds like they think it’s sabotage because Japan and China were getting along fine and trading more lately.

The strategy seems to have worked because all of Tianyang Food Processing Ltd. products are being recalled. Some stores will not sell any Chinese food products at all now.

One of the chemicals detected was benzene. It’s been banned in Japan for over 20 years so whoever put it there knew it would cause problems with China. Methamidophos was detected in several of the bags that were also punctured.

“Co-op said tests this week have found 110 parts per million of dichlorvos in the dumpling dough and 0.42 ppm in the filling. Japanese residue limits for the pesticide are set at one ppm in wheat and 0.1 ppm in cabbage - both ingredients of the dumplings.” (Chisaki Watanabe, Associated Press, Feb.6, 2008)

Benzene has been linked to leukemia as well as other illnesses but it’s also used to manufacture a variety of products such as plastic, rubber and paint.

Organic Food

Traces of pesticides are found in our food all over the world but not normally at the high levels that were found in the dumplings in Japan.

It’s still a concern though and it’s good idea to peel fruit and vegetables when possible. Turning to organic food is even better. There are more organic choices out there since the demand has grown. We have several local farms that grow organic fruit and vegetables.

I read that some organic food can even contain trace amounts of pesticides because the soil could still be contaminated from before. It does seem like a better bet to go with organic because it supports local farmers and lessens pesticide use.

I was just hanging out at Ten Thousand Villages to do some Valentine gift shopping so thought I would share a few of my finds.

This handmade recycled angel pin from Kenya is so cute. It’s made out of recycled metal and brass. They are created by disabled artisans in Bombolulu and supported by Bombolulu Jewelry Workshop.

Their mission is “To enable persons with physical disabilities to overcome their limitations by empowering them economically and socially so that they become fully integrated members of their communities.”

At Ten Thousand Villages I also found this handmade heart shaped bead choker from India. The beads are made out of glass and the group who makes them are artisans called Archana Handicrafts.

Archana means “a thing of truth and beauty” and they help artisans all over India. The choker shown is only 8 dollars.

On to the embracing couple statue, a beautiful work of art carved out of stone by Haitian artisans. The group responsible for these are the Comite Artisanal Haitien or Haitian Committee of Artisans. They help promote and market Haitian crafts for fair wages.

Supporting Ten Thousand Villages is a wonderful way to spread the love this Valentines day not just to your loved ones but to people around the world.

• Want to try a fun earth friendly Valentines craft? Check out Soy Silk Valentines Cards.

If you want to learn about how to build a straw bale house, Andrew Morrison at Strawbale.com knows his stuff. He created a Straw Bale Village, which consists of 15 straw bale homes in Jacksonville Oregon.

He also teaches seven day workshops on straw bale techniques and encourages people to bring their musical instruments if they have them to play in the evening.

Free Straw Building Resources

If you can’t make it to his workshops, there are plenty of free resources on the site where you can learn more about straw baling. There are articles, videos, podcasts, blog and a free ecourse. If you are interested in attending a week long workshop you can check out his schedule online. It appears that they will be available in Oregon and New York although he’s mentioned he’s traveled all over the world.

Here for example is a video with Andrew addressing the misconceptions of building with straw bales. At the end, there are some gorgeous photos in a slide show with examples of straw bale homes.

I love the rounded contours, colors and the sturdy natural look of the homes. They are also noise proof and save on heat and air conditioning because of insulating so well. Of course they’re made with sustainable materials.

According to Andrew, the U.S. burns and/or throws out 200 million tons of straw a year. If we use our own local renewable straw for building, that saves on transportation and burning fossil fuels.

• For more tips on various green building methods Shelly from Natural and Sustainable shares some pointers on flooring choices, paint and more. See 9 Lessons on Green Building for more.

Hey, we were knocked offline for a couple days so couldn’t call this Saturday’s song. It’s Ozzy Osbourne’s Dreamer Tune. It’s beautiful and he’s a talented writer who manages to write both ballads and rock well. I love Ozzy and wish I saw him at his last concert. Maybe next round. I’m sure he’ll be back.

Ozzy’s Dreamer Lyrics

Gazing through the window at the world outside
Wondering if mother earth will survive
Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her, sometime

After all there’s just the two of us
And here we are still fighting for our lives
Watching all of history repeat itself, time after time

I’m just a dreamer, I dream my life away
I’m just a dreamer, who dreams of better days

I watch the sun go down like everyone of us
I’m hoping that the dawn will bring a sign
A better place for those who will come after us this time

I’m just a dreamer, I dream my life away, oh yeah
I’m just a dreamer, who dreams of better days

Your higher power may be God or Jesus Christ
It doesn’t really matter much to me
Without each others help there aint no hope for us
I’m living in a dream, a fantasy
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah

If only we could just find serenity
It would be nice if we could live as one
When will all this anger, hate and bigotry be gone?

I’m just a dreamer, I dream my life away, today
I’m just a dreamer, who dreams of better days, ok
I’m just a dreamer, whos searching for the way, today
I’m just a dreamer, dreaming my life away
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah

Jackie from Ford Models gives us a demonstration of a variety of green accessories. Ecoist.com has several featured products in the video.

They’re one of my favorites because their bags are so colorful and made from repurposed candy wrappers. The coin purse pictured here uses 60 candy wrappers. Ecoist also create bags made from the pull tabs off cans, movie posters and rice bags.

Some of those rice bags are colorful and would be a shame to throw away. I have a friend that uses her rice bags for totes all the time. It wouldn’t be that tricky to add a handle either.

A couple of the other bags are from BTC Elements and are made from recycled seat belts and inner tubes. They have a huge selection of earth friendly accessories and clothing.

The jewelry shown is from AuH2O Recycled Clothing in New York and the pendants are car emblems. AuH2O create all their clothes from recycled materials and are reasonably priced. They also do custom alterations on the spot for free!

I would take advantage of that service. Finding a skirt that’s a tiny bit too big or long has happened to me so many times. Offering alterations at the store is great for the customer and increases the company’s chance of sales.

To see some of these sustainable creations, check out the websites mentioned or the video included here.

• Still seeking more? Shelly from Sustainable Living has taken the time to create a listing of sustainable fashion companies. There’s organic and fair trade cotton, bamboo, hemp and more.