New blog!

Since I'm focused more and more on Green marketing, I'm branching out into a new blog, The Green Inkwell. It'll be mostly about promoting Green business, but I may throw in some Green living tips as well.

I'm also managing the company blog for our solar installation company, Performance Energy, Inc. Here's the link: http://performanceenergyinc.com/blog/. Feel free to swing by!

Gas calculator

I had to fill my tank today and noticed that the price of gas is trending up again. Curious, I looked up historical charts for gas futures, and found that prices do tend to peak in the summer.

I also found an interesting gas calculator site. It has a couple different applications. You can plug in the price of a barrel of oil to see what that means to you at the pump in dollars and cents. And you can figure out exactly how much a more fuel-efficient car would save you in fuel costs.

There is also supposed to be an application to track your MPG and cost per mile, but I couldn't get it to work.

Get Nettled

"Ouch!" - or is that "yum?"

Maybe it's a little of both.

Where I live in central Wisconsin, the nettles have poked their sharp little dark green noses up out of the ground.

Despite their nasty sting, nettles are my absolutely favorite wild plant. I met a man once who had grown up in Nazi-era Germany. He said he owed his life to nettles. After the war his family had very little to eat- but the abundant nettle patches near his home kept them from starvation. Since hearing his story I have held a deep respect for nettles.

But the more I learn about them, the more my respect grows. Did you know that nettles:

• Are full of iron, vitamin A and a slew of other vitamins and minerals and are used as a nutitional supplement for animals and people alike
• Have anti-inflammatory properties
• Are great for your garden
  
• Yield not one but two natural dyes - green from the leaves and yellow from the roots
• Have been used like hemp and linen to make clothing for over two thousand years?

This last point is especially intriguing, considering how dependent we are on cotton and how wretched cotton production is for the environment. Even organic cotton is hard on the soil and requires an obscene amount of water. Nettles, on the other hand, grow like the weeds they are with little or no irrigation, herbicides, pesticides or artificial fertilizer.

And they're tasty, too!

Pick the leafy tops in the spring when the plants are young (be sure to wear gloves!) Take them home, wash them, drop them in a covered pot with just a little water, and simmer until tender. Cooking neutralizes the sting. Look for a second crop after the weather turns cool and rainy in the fall.

Nettles are delicious eaten with butter, salt and pepper; in casseroles, soups, or omelets - wherever you might enjoy spinach. You can also steep the dried leaves for a nutritious tea.

Next time you come across a patch of nettles, don't just dismiss them as vicious weeds. Give 'em a try. You may find they grow on you!

If a Tree Falls in the City

Let me tell you about the art opening I went to last night.

It was no ordinary exhibit.

Sure, the gallery was oozing with pretentiousness, as befits an art reception in a small town that wants to be big.

And the art, although certainly beautiful, was not unusual.

It was the printed material, and a dropped phrase here and there, which gave away the secret of the show.

Every item on display - over 170 of them by 50 local artists ranging from large tables to a little bookmark adorned with a tiny jewel-like burl of wood - was crafted out of wood from the same butternut tree. A tree that might otherwise have gone to waste.

The Butternut Project is the brainchild of woodworker and treecycler Mark Duginske. Its culmination, the exhibit entitled "If a Tree Falls in the City," on display at Wausau's Center for the Visual Arts through June 14th, serves a purpose beyond those of showcasing local talent and preserving the beautiful wood of an aged butternut tree. It shines a spotlight on an environmental practice whose time has come: the recycling of urban trees.

Here is what Mark has to say about urban wood:

With the combination of the economic stress and environmental awareness, Americans are now focusing on the improved use of local resources including urban trees. Urban trees for many years have been considered waste. Because of nails, cement and metal the traditional log buyers and sawmills avoid urban trees. without a reliable market for the urban trees, municipalities carried them to local landfills and dumped them as waste.

Dumping trees into landfills is not only wasteful of both wood and space, it's increasingly becoming illegal in many states, including Wisconsin. Many urban trees are hauled off to be made into paper. But most of them are beautiful old hardwoods which could be put to better use.

Any one of the items in the show is far more beautiful than your typical stick of furniture from the mall. What if we were to stop shipping in stuff from across the globe and start thinking about making good use of the resources close at hand?

Likely we'd use fewer resources and have sturdier, more beautiful things.

And maybe we'd appreciate them more, having witnessed what goes into their making.

The Butternut Project is one of a number of ongoing creative endeavors using the recycled trees from Wausau and the Marathon County Park system. If you are interested in recycled lumber or products made from recycled wood. or have creative ideas for future events, educational programs or other activities utilizing recycled wood, please let me know and I will pass your comments on to Mark Duginske.

Click the link for more information on harvesting urban timber.

Eat Beans for the Earth (And Save a Little Money, Too!)

I'm not a vegetarian (at least not any more.) But if you are, good for you! Modern methods of meat production contribute to massive groundwater contamination and greenhouse gas formation in the form of methane from animal waste. Plus we burn an obscene amount of diesel to produce grain and soybeans for animals, when we could support ten times as many humans per acre if everyone just ate plants.

So I'm trying to make it a point to eat vegetarian more often. Here's a dish I came up with that everyone seems to like. At home we just call it "casserole," but I'll give it a fancier name here to make it sound more enticing:

Texas Chili Pie

Soak a bunch of beans (Any kind of chili bean, black bean, pinto or kidney bean works well.) Two cups of dry beans work pretty well for one casserole's worth. (I once made the mistake of letting my son put the beans on to soak in a 16-quart stock pot. He loves casserole and piled in so many beans that by they time they swelled up with water they knocked the top off the pot. Needless to say we ate beans for what seemed like weeks.)

Anyway, drain the beans the next day and boil them up until they're soft. Then make chili out of them.

I'm purposely keeping this vague for two reasons. One, that's the way I cook. Two, a lot of people have their own favorite chili recipe. If you do, use it! If you don't, don't worry. Just saute an onion or so and some green pepper and garlic, spice to taste (chili powder, cumin, oregano, jalapenos, habaneros if you're brave, or what have you.) Don't forget the salt or it'll be disappointing. Throw in some frozen corn kernels if you like. Add a big can of tomato paste and enough water to make it seem like chili, and you're good to go.

Pour the stuff into a casserole or roasting pan and top it with corn bread. (If you don't know how to make this look it up.) Pop it in the oven at 350 for half an hour until the top is golden brown. Then take it out and enjoy!

It's good with a big tossed salad and fresh fruit. (And I wouldn't know, but I suspect a good cold beer might just be the ticket, too!)

Give it a try, and let me know what you think!


P.S. It's cheap and filling, too.

P.P.S. Now you know why I've never written a cookbook!

How I Saved 14 Minutes by Taking my Bike Instead of the Car

I rode my bike to work today. It took a little longer than driving, but it saved me time, anyway.

It takes me exactly seven minutes to get from home to work by car. (That's assuming I don't catch more than my share of red lights.) Riding the bike takes me about 18 minutes. So you'd think commuting by bike would take an extra 22 minutes, right?

But in reality, it saved me 14 minutes - allowing me just enough time to log in this blog post without screwing up my schedule for the day.

You see, I've got this thing about exercise. If I don't get enough you don't want to be around me. So I try to get in to the Y several times a week to work out. And guess what? A typical workout takes about 30 minutes, plus time to get in and out of the building. About the same amount of time as my bike ride.

So by skipping the Y and gonzoing up and down Grand Avenue both ways on my bike I get in the same amount of workout time - without having to park my rear end in the car for 14 minutes.

Cool, huh?

(By the way, if you don't work out regularly you can still save time commuting by bike. But in your case, don't measure it in minutes but in years - bonus years tacked on to the end of your life for giving your body what it needs!)

National Teach Kids to Do As You Say, Not As You Do Day

Got a newsletter in the mail today. Amongst other things it said that April 24 is "National Teach Your Kids to Share Day."

Funny how our country can have a day dedicated to teaching our kids to share but can't share the wealth and provide them with universal health coverage so they can be reasonably assured of decent medical care no matter what kind of household they were born into.

Sunsweet "Ones" - Asinine Money-Grubbing Gimmick of the Year Award

OK, I've just come across an idea so moronic, I had to create an award just for it.

Keep in mind, I just recently found out about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a ten-million-square-mile area in the Pacific Ocean that has become the ultimate destination (read: garbage dump) for unwanted plastic refuse.

Since then, I've become acutely aware of our society's cavalier use (or more often, abuse) of plastic products, particularly packaging.

So when I happened past a TV at my local YMCA the other day, the commercial that was airing stopped me dead in my tracks. It was for (get this) individually wrapped prunes! (I can't find an English version of the commercial online, but you can see an Italian one here.)

That's right. Sunsweet, in its quest for the largest share possible of the digestively-challenged market, has resorted to turning an otherwise innocent snack into a packaging nightmare.

So prunes give you sticky fingers! So what? What's wrong with licking them? And how hard is it to pack a couple of prunes in a reusable container to bring along? Why the HE-- do we need to add even more plastic waste and estrogenic compounds into the environment just so a few spoiled individuals can avoid a little mess?

(Oh, sorry. maybe Sunsweet figures they're doing the environment a favor by reducing the world's net consumption of Wet Naps.)

I love dried fruit, and applaud Sunsweet for producing natural, healthy treats. But please, let's not turn them into yet another vehicle for trashing the planet.

Going Green at the Office

Boy, seems like life has taken over for a while and I haven't been posting as often as I'd like!

One of the things I've been up to is figuring out what to do about the toner cartridge problem at work. I write a monthly newsletter for one of our family-run businesses, Michelsen Music. It's easy enough and cheaper to copy it off myself, but I go through a cartridge of ink every couple months.

Now Canon will take the things back for recycling, but it's a hassle to have to package them up and take them to the post office. Plus they cost about $60 a crack. Not cool!

I figured that finding a way to refill them would not only save the energy costs of melting the darn things down and turning them into new ones (or however they do it), but it could possibly save me money as well.

So I did a little online search. Not to brag, but boy, did I get it right!

There's a site called TonerKits.com that sells refill kits for virtually any copier ink cartridge out there. It's easy to use and it works!

I was so impressed I wrote up a glowing review for them and posted it on Associated Content. You can read the whole story here if you want all the lurid details. But for now, suffice it to say it works great, it only took me 10 minutes and I saved forty bucks. How cool is that?

Green Copywriter Interview

Cool - I just got an email request for an interview. You can read it here.

How the Democrats Subverted Corporate Tactics, and Why You Should Too

I got a call the other day from the Democrats. It was an automated message, but I was curious to see what they wanted now that the election had been won. I figured it was money.

I figured wrong.

The very kind voice on the line told me how important it was to support President Obama's budget. Then he asked me a favor. "Go to www.BarackObama.com," he said.

Being as I was standing next to a computer and still curious, I obeyed.

"Click the link to tell Congress to support the President's budget."

Lo and behold, prominently displayed on Obama's home page was a picture of the White house and a phone branded with the President's inspiring logo. Next to it was a big button emblazoned with the words "Call Now."

Next, I figured, would be a synapse of the budget so I could see what it was for which I was supposed to express support.

No such luck.

I was taken to a page with this headline:

A New Foundation for Growth — Call Your Representatives

Enter your address to find your representatives' phone numbers. Make sure to report your results.

Underneath was a box for me to type in my address and Zip code, and another button reading "Find Representatives."

The only other thing on the page was a sidebar containing a script telling me word for word what I was supposed to tell the aforementioned representatives:

Example Script for Your Calls

Hello, my name is __________ and I'm calling you from __________ (city or town). I'm calling today because we are in the grips of the worst economic crisis in generations — and President Obama needs the support of every member of Congress to create jobs, fix our economy and rebuild and renew America.

The President has proposed a budget that is honest, responsible and invests in the priorities we need to get our economy moving again and create jobs now and in the future, including:

• Renewable energy to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil
  
• Making Health Care more affordable for every American by cutting costs
  
• Improving education so our children are prepared for the jobs of the 21st Century

Can I count on Rep./Sen. _________ to support the President's plan?

Feeling a little like Alice in Wonderland, I typed in my address.

Up popped a little map of my area, including a little arrow, again emblazoned with Obama's logo (which also appeared at the top of the page,) pointing to my hometown. Next to it were the names and phone numbers of my representatives, accompanied by a button instructing me to "Click here when you're done calling."

At this point I rebelled. No way was I going to call my representatives if I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to be supporting. I clicked back to the President's home page, expecting to find a link to the budget. No such thing. I poked around the site, figuring it had to be on there somewhere.

No way, Jose.

So I went back out to Google and found the budget. It took a while. Guess SEO isn't too high on the list of whomever is in charge of the Office of Management and Budget's website.

What I found was very inspiring but nearly impossible to understand.

One thing I did understand, though, was that Obama is calling for increasing spending for the military.

I went back to my instructions and called my reps. I told them I was all for supporting alternative energy and improving education but that I have a REAL PROBLEM with spending an even greater percentage of our ever-deeper-in-the-red budget on the military.

I could go on about that, but it's beside the point of this post.

When I finished calling, of course, I clicked the button like a good little sheep.

Now I was directed to enter my first and last name and email and report my calls. They wanted to know how many calls I made and what the response was, which I dutifully relayed (taking an extra moment to reiterate my opinion.)

Here's what popped up next:

Thanks! — Now spread the word

Ask your friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues to join you in calling their representatives.

* Send a message using your regular email program
* Share this page on Facebook

BRILLIANT!

Absolutely brilliant!

The Democrats have finally caught on to marketing.

• They've caught on to the fact that the majority of human beings are pretty much ovine in nature (look it up if you don't know what that means) and more times than not will simply do what they're told if it seems reasonable. Even if it's not.

Is it reasonable to call your reps in support of a plan you know nothing about?

How many Americans have even read the plan, let alone understand it?

• They made sure the whole process was set up to be idiot-proof. They stood by and held my hand, making sure I took each step in turn and completed it properly. Each step led inexorably to the next. Nothing was complex. Each phase of the process focused on one thing, and one thing only. During no phase of the entire transaction (yes, transaction - I didn't get through without giving them several items of value) did one ever have to stop and/or think. In fact, thinking was discouraged.
  

• They took full advantage of branding and name recognition.

• Not only did they get me to place a call, but they found out what the results were - golden information that will help them design their next promo. (Yes, I'm labeling their work with marketing terms. )
  

• And of course, they wouldn't dream of letting me go without capturing my contact info. If they're smart they'll follow up until I tell them to go to hell.

• Now, here's the most brilliant part of all. If they got me this far, they're assuming they made the sale. I'm on their side (they think.) And I'm sure to have friends. And because politics is such a passionate subject, I probably talk about it with them. And since I was proactive enough to complete their little process, I'm likely to be influential. So they ask me to spread the word.

They make it easy to do. (Again.) You click on the link and get to a program that searches your email contacts in order to send this message:

Hey,

I just called my elected representatives in Washington and told them to support the President's budget -- it's a bold plan that confronts the long-term threats to our prosperity and builds a new foundation for economic growth by investing in energy, health care, and education.

Look up your representatives and urge them to support this plan:

http://my.barackobama.com/callcongress

Thanks.

Well, OK, lots of nonprofits have you tell a friend, but Obama's crew takes it a step further. They introduce another avenue - social networking. The Facebook link takes you to a comment box (branded with the same telephone/logo image as appeared on Obama's homepage, with a request for your friends to start the process over again.

Wow. You know how messages spread on Facebook. Like a virus.

So what's my point?

Well, besides the fact that I'm in marketing and taking notes, the point is multiple.

One is that no matter who's doing the telling, you shouldn't act without checking it out.

And the other is that corporate America and the Republican Party have been playing this game for far too long - and look where it got us.

But they're not the only ones who can direct human action.

Instead of playing the defensive on taking environmental action, why don't we act a little more like marketers? By that I mean:

* Make it easy. One step at a time.
* Hold our tongues. Too much information can be worse than too little. It gets people thinking about reasons why not.
* Pound the benefits.

Read the script again:

The President has proposed a budget that is honest, responsible and invests in the priorities we need to get our economy moving again and create jobs now and in the future, including:

* Renewable energy to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil
* Making Health Care more affordable for every American by cutting costs
* Improving education so our children are prepared for the jobs of the 21st Century

Every feature listed is backed by tangible benefits to the reader. NOT benefits to the originator of the document, which would read more like: "to increase our popularity so we'll get re-elected and have our way."

It's starting to happen, because people are seeing the connection between what's good for the Earth and what's good for them , but we need to focus on it even more: Talk more about how sustainable choices help the people you're trying to convince, less about how important they are for three-toed pygmy purple spotted wallabees. (Yes the wallabees are important and you can go on about them sometimes but don't expect the average Joe to listen. Start talking about the money he'll save when he seals the cracks in his house, though, and watch his ears perk up.)

* Oh, and don't forget. Tell a friend. Or twenty. If just one catches your enthusiasm and starts re-broadcasting your message, you've leveraged it a hundred times.

More About Living With Ed

Wow, it's been a busy week! Last time I posted I promised to write more about Ed Begley Jr.'s keynote speech at the better Buildings Better Business Conference last week.

The biggest point he made was that living sustainably doesn't have to mean living beyond your means. Quite the contrary - it's all about living responsibly, isn't it? (After all, the reason our world is so messed up to begin with is that we as a society have been living beyond our planet's means. We've behaved like a bunch of teenagers going nuts with their parents' credit cards - only it's our kids who are going to have to pay the bill, with interest.)

Going sustainable doesn't mean you have to spring right away for tens of thousands of dollars worth of solar electric equipment, or start buying high-priced organic clothing. Those actions don't hurt, and we can certainly aspire to them. But there are plenty of other actions we can take that are simple, easy to do, and will actually save us money. It's all about fiscal responsibility. "Save money on the little things," says Ed, "and you can afford the bigger things later on."

Ed calls them the "low-hanging fruit" - the cheap and easy stuff we can afford. "There's a wide array of things you can do that are really super inexpensive, " he says. Here are a few of his suggestions:

• Weather stripping your windows



• Installing an energy-efficient thermostat



• Bike riding when weather and fitness permit



• Using public transportation when available



• Home gardening and composting

"Do it cheap. Do these things today and you will save money. I guaranteee it!"

It's the same kind of stuff I try to write about every week here on Living Green. (So stay tuned for a steady trickle of ideas!)

Find out more about Ed Begley, Jr. at http://www.edbegley.com/.

Wow! Just got back from the Better Buildings Better Business Conference in the Wisconsin Dells! (The picture at left shows just a few of the solar thermal panels on the roof of the Kalahari Resort, where the conference took place.) Boy was there enough good stuff there to feed me posting ideas for weeks!

Having rejected TV at the age of 18 (and never missed it since,) I wasn't prepared to enjoy the keynote speaker as much as I did. But Ed Begley Jr. (if you watch the tube you might recognize him as the host of "Living With Ed") gave me a very pleasant surprise. He's real, he's passionate, he's personable, and he had some very good points.

My favorite was when someone asked what he thought of nuclear energy.

"Nuclear?" he replied, "I'm 100% in favor of nuclear energy. We have a perfectly safe reactor putting out perfectly safe nuclear energy...93 million miles away."

Stay tuned for more about Ed - he's got a lot to say that resonates with the whole reason for living Green!

Wood Duck Housing Boom

Do you live in Central Wisconsin and have a large yard or property near water? What do you think of inviting a growing family to live on your property? They won't pay rent but they might provide you with hours of entertainment.

I'm talking about wood ducks. I just got an email from Kelly Zagrzebski at Wisconsin Public Service about a great way to help these beautiful waterfowl do their thing:

Wisconsin Public Service is teaming up with Ducks Unlimited (DU) to hold a wood duck house giveaway event on Saturday morning, March 7.

This year’s theme is The Great Greenwing Wood Duck House Giveaway. For a $10 donation, buyers will receive a wood duck house, instructions for use, and a one-year DU Greenwing membership for any youth up to 18 years old. The houses have a retail value of more than $30.

The McNaughton Correctional Facility in northern Wisconsin handles the production and assembly process of the wood duck houses. More than 500 houses were produced this year.

DU (Northwoods Chapter) has coordinated this program and has distributed more than 5,000 houses in northern and central Wisconsin over the past 14 years. DU recommends you check your existing wood duck house and replace wood shavings annually.

This year’s Great Greenwing Wood Duck House Giveaway will take place on Saturday, March 7, from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM at the following Public Service office locations:

* Rhinelander – 425 W. Davenport St
* Minocqua – 9427 County Rd J
* Tomahawk – 27 N Tomahawk Ave
* Merrill – 3200 E Main St
* Waupaca – 315 S. Main St
* Two Rivers – 800 Columbus St
* Wausaukee – 912 Main St
* Menominee, MI – 1717 10th Ave

Supplies are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

I live in the middle of Wausau and am more likely to attract wasps in something like that than wood ducks. But if I had the right place you can bet I'd put one up! How about you?

Freecycle Network

I haven't used this yet, but what a great idea:

The Freecycle Network is a grassroots organization whose mission is "to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community."

Basically how it works is this: you sign in to their website (which is free, naturally!)and find your community's page. There you can post items you want to get rid of, or browse what other people have posted to give away. If you find something you want, you can contact the owner through the site and they'll tell you where and when you can pick it up.

When I visited Wausau's page the other day items ranged from diapers to a canoe. And the tone was neighborly - thank-yous from donors and recipients alike peppered the page.

Freecycle groups are everywhere. All 50 states plus 98 countries and territories on 6 continents are listed on their site.

Hmmmm. I've been doing some pre-spring cleaning. My daughter wants to do a garage sale next summer, so I'm not getting rid of anything yet. But once she's done, boy am I going to start posting!

The Great Paper Chase

You know, there's so much buzz about "green this" and "green that" going on in this country, it gives the impression that we're really shaping up in terms of mending our environmental ways. But before we get too hearty about patting ourselves on the back, let's take a step back and look at ourselves through the lens of reality.

I had a chance to do just that this week. My husband and I run a small retail music store, and I've started sending out a monthly newsletter to our regular customers. Legal sized paper folded in thirds works really well, because it allows me more space to ramble on. (Don't laugh - the customers love it 'cause I talk about stuff that's of interest to THEM. Too many marketers only think about their own interests.)

Anyway, we ran out of legal sized paper pretty quick, so I hightailed it down to the local office supply shop to pick up more. I figured they might not have recycled in stock and I was right, but I wasn't prepared for just how right.

This shop has a special-order catalog the size of the New York City phone directory (HUGE.) they've got everything in there you could possibly think of - and more than a few things you probably never would - for your office.

But they didn't have a single type of legal-sized 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Not one.

Now I know 8 1/2 X 14" paper isn't all that commonly used. But it's standard enough to be an option on every copier and printer I've ever come across. So what gives?

All the ads we're bombarded with now on a daily basis, about how this company cares about future generations, and that one is looking out for Mother Earth... how much are they really taking to heart? Not too much, by the looks of it, if all their words won't even produce enough demand for one measly sustainable option in a multi-thousand-page tome.

We may be making progress, but friends, we have a long way left to go.

Sprout Your Own Salad

Our great-great-grandparents would have turned green with envy if they could see the huge produce sections of our typical modern supermarkets.

It's true - having access to such an abundance of yummy fresh veggies and salad ingredients all year long is great for healthy eating - but it may not be the best for the Earth.

Next time you shop, take a look at where all this food is coming from. Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, Morocco... many items are shipped from thousands of miles away. Even domestically produced produce is frequently trucked hundreds or thousands of miles to its final destination. Considering that most salad veggies consist of 90% or more water by weight, this represents a tremendous amount of fuel burned just to keep our salad bowls filled.

One way to get around this is to grow your own. Home-grown veggies don't just cut down on greenhouse gasses - they're much fresher, which means they're tastier and healthier, too! Just one problem if you live in a cooler climate - it's pretty hard to garden in the winter.

Fortunately, there's a solution to the seasonal salad dilemna: sprouts! Sprouted veggies are easy to grow, tasty, and packed with vitamins and minerals. They're great both raw and tossed into stir frys, or even in meatloaf or smoothies, depending on the type you grow.

Getting started is easy. All you need is a glass jar (wide-mouth quart or larger Mason jars work great), some cheesecloth, a rubber band and seeds to sprout.

You can turn just about any kind of veggie seed into sprouts. Alfalfa is the most popular, but if you want to avoid the toxic saponins associated with them go for clover seeds instead. Anything in the cabbage family is great. Mustard or radish sprouts will provide a nice zip to your plate, as will onion. And sprouting beans and grains such as lentils, garbonzos and quinoa will make them more nutritious and cut down on cooking time.

Pour a tablespoon or so of the small seeds, or half a cup of the larger ones, into your jar and cover well with filtered water. Let them soak overnight. In the morning, fasten some cheesecloth over your jar with a rubber band and drain. Rinse with more filtered water, drain again, and let them sit in a darkened location with the jar propped so excess moisture can drain out.

Be sure to repeat the rinse and drain procedure twice a day so your little sprouts don't start to rot. Within one or two days you should see a little swelling at the bottom end of each seed. This is the tip of the radicle, or embryonic root, of the seed. Now you have sprouts! Some sprouts, such as garbonzos, lentils, and grains, can be used at this stage. Others can be allowed to grow for a few days longer, until the seed leaves are developed. If you're using them as greens, you'll want to expose them to light during the last day to encourage chlorophyll formation. This will turn them a nice green and add to their nutritional value.

Once you're used to it, sprouting your own salad takes very little time and is a great way to add interest and nutrition to your winter salad plate!

What to Do With All Those Shoes?

Why wait for Spring? Early February falls midway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, and it's a traditional time for house cleaning.

I've been doing my best to live up to tradition. Room by room, I've been going through each area of our home and getting rid of anything we no longer love, need or use.

With two growing kids in the household, one item that keeps cropping up is...shoes!

My son seems to have finally reached his full foot size, but for a couple years there I swear we were getting to be personal friends with the shoe store guys. And now my daughter's approaching the age of maximum foot expansion.

So now we are the proud owners of an impressive collection of shoes and boots of various styles and sizes. We'll never use most of them again. What to do? Are they doomed to take up landfill space forever?

Not necessarily. By chance, I stumbled upon a link to a couple really cool programs that address the issue:

• Soles4Souls is a non-profit dedicated to putting shoes on the feet of needy people around the world. You can drop off your gently-worn footwear at a participating retail drop-off points, or mail them to one of their three U.S. warehouses. You can also donate new shoes or make cash donations. Visit www.soles4souls.org for more information and donating instructions.

• Got worn-out sneakers? Don't toss them in the trash! Instead, send them to Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program, where they will be ground up into new material and used to make new sports surfaces like soccer and football fields, basketball and tennis courts, tracks and playground surfacing. (One would hope they're deodorized in the process!) Visit www.nikereuseashoe.com to find out where to send your used-up athletic shoes (any brand), or to find a convenient drop-off location near you - and to check out the impressive number of shoes donated to date!

How 'bout you? I'd love to hear about other creative solutions to the worn-out shoe problem. (Especially if it'll convince my husband to get rid of his!)

New Green Copywriting Website

Yippee! I got my Green Copywriting website up! Check it out at www.GreenInkCopywriting.com - and be sure to let me know what you think!

The Healing Power of Music

I found out about it by accident.

One day I was suffering considerable pain, and something told me to go sit down at the piano. Now, I'm no concert pianist, but I really enjoy playing. About 45 minutes later I realized that the act of making music had instantly and completely wiped out the pain - at least while I continued to play.

Curious, I decided to look into it.

I found several studies that show that music really does help reduce pain. Not only that, it helps fight depression and stress as well.

• A 1996 study of 60 arthritis patients showed that individuals who listened to music for an hour a day showed a 21 percent reduction in pain and a 25 percent reduction in depression associated with pain perception.(Journal of Advanced Nursing, June 2006)
• A Stanford University study revealed that 20 seniors who practiced stress-reduction techniques while listening to music during an 8-week study period enjoyed better moods and reduced depression. A control group who used the stress-busting techniques without the benefit of music saw no improvement.
• A review of four studies on music and pain relief led by M. Soledad Cepeda, M.D., a faculty member of the anesthesia department at Tufts-New England Medical Center, indicates that on average, music has the same effect as about 325milligrams of acetaminophen (Tylenol) - about half a regular adult dose.
  
• A study of 236 pregnant women at the College of Nursing at Kaohsiung Medical Universityin Taiwan found that listening to 30 minutes of calming music a day significantly reduced the women's psychological stress.

Many other studies and anecdotal evidence indicates that music can indeed help manage pain, improve mood and mobility of people with Parkinson's disease, reduce the need for sedatives and pain relievers during and after surgery, decrease nausea during chemotherapy, shorten hospital stays, ease anxiety, lower blood pressure, relieve depression, enhance concentration and creativity...the list goes on.

And the best thing is, there doesn't seem to be any one particular type of music that's better or worse for healing. Whatever people enjoy listening to seems to work.

So in tough times, when you find yourself stressed out, bothered by pain or just plain tired, remember that one form of relief is always close at hand.

Just open your mouth and sing!

P.S. I didn't find any studies comparing the benefits of actually making music vs. just listening. But in my own experience, music making beats out listening hands down.

Children's Resale Addendum

Here's what I heard back from my congresspeople on the used children's merchandise issue:

From Senator Herb Kohl:

On January 8, 2009, the CPSC released a
statement clarifying CPSIA, stating "sellers of used children's
products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not
required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits,
phthalates standard or new toy standards." This CPSC statement is
meant to address the concerns of small businesses regarding
excessive regulatory burdens, while ensuring that product safety is
not compromised.

From Senator Russ Feingold:

The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children's products made after February 10 meet all new safety standards, including the lead ban. However, sellers of used children's products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards. Further, the new safety law does not require resellers to test children's products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold.

Apparently, the people made a big enough stink to avoid stupid disaster. Yea!

Who's Killing Children's Resale?

At the last meeting of Wausau's sustainability action committee, the Comission for a Greener Tomorrow (www.gogreencentralwisconsin.com), the woman sitting next to me volunteered some shocking news.

"There's a new law that's going to destroy the children's resale industry," she announced. "It's going to be illegal to sell used children's toys and even clothing."

WHAT?

If you know me at all, you know I'm a big fan of resale. And children's resale in particular. Because children grow so fast, they're always needing new clothes and other things. Buying used cuts way down on the environmental cost of procuring these items, helps keep consumables out of the landfill, and is a godsend for lower-income families trying to keep up with their kids' ever-changing needs. I had to follow up on this one.

Unfortunately, it turns out it's 95% true. Technically it won't be illegal to sell used children's items, but it might as well be.

Consumer Product Safety Commission's Folly

You see, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in its infinite wisdom, passed a law that is supposed to protect children from the dangers of chemical poisoning. Everyone's favorite political bozo, past President George W. Bush, signed the well-meaning but pinheaded Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (H.R. 4040) into law last August 14. The law goes into effect February 10, 2009.

The law states that any children's items will need to be tested. Toys with high lead content and clothing and accessories with a high percentages of lead or phthalates in zippers, snaps, buttons or other closures will be banned from sale or distribution. That includes virtually everything - including shoes and books.

Vendors of items not meeting the new standards will be subject to prosecution - including resale outlets. And it's not limited to retail used clothing stores, either. It includes charities and other nonprofits - and YOU, if you have any plans to hold a garage sale next spring.

Uncle Sam Has a Screw Loose on This One

Now, I'm definitely in favor of protecting children from excessive chemical exposure. And I can see the logic of requiring items with untested paint, etc. to be pulled from the shelves. But in this case Uncle Sam is going off the deep end.

In a time when food pantry shelves are rapidly emptying and unemployment skyrocketing, the last thing this nation's children need is additional financial burden on their families. And that's what this law will provide. If it is allowed to go into effect, the results will be devastating:

• Many resale shops depend heavily upon the sale of children's items and will be forced to close their doors.
• Low-income families will no longer have access to readily available, affordable good-quality merchandise and will become even more financially stressed.
• The disposal of unsalable items will put additional strain on already-overburdened landfills.
• Not to mention the environmental costs of forcing millions of Americans to purchase new merchandise rather than used for their children. (The positive economic impact of increased spending will be minimal, as most of these purchases will likely be of low-cost goods manufactured in China, and offset by the loss of jobs and income in the resale sector.)

What Can We Do About It?

Fortunately, we have a new administration that claims to be truly democratic. Want to try them out? There are already quite a few groups raising a stink on this one. Here's one to start with:

The National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops has a web page where you can sign a petition to save second-hand kid's clothing and toys. They also have a sample letter to your congresspeople that you can edit, sign and send. It's easy, fast and free. Here's the link:

http://www.narts.org/SaveKidsResale.htm

February 10 is fast approaching. If you've read this far you've proven your concern and you can't be so busy you can't do this: I urge you to take two minutes (maybe less) RIGHT NOW and speak out for kids and the planet!

Energy Saving Kitchen Tip

Next time you heat up the oven to bake something for dinner, see how far you can stretch the energy you're using. Once the oven is up to temperature, it saves energy to cook as much of your meal in it as you can fit.

For instance, you can cook rice and other grains just as easily in the oven as on the stovetop. (Actually more easily because you won't need to remember to turn the heat down.) Just put the uncooked grain and water in the usual proportions into a casserole with a tight-fitting lid, and pop it in. Brown rice or millet cooks in about half an hour.

You're not limited to the same old baked potatoes, either. Cut up your spuds, cover with water and cook them just like rice when you want them boiled or mashed. Or cut them in strips, spread them on an oiled baking tray and brush with olive oil for "French bakes." (Try them sprinkled with your favorite herbs for a tasty change of pace.)

Can't think of anything else? Mix up a batch of muffins for tomorrow's breakfast, or cookie bars for the lunch box. Or even cranberry or apple sauce to go with that baked chicken or pork roast. (It's really easy - just dump the cut-up apples or whole cranberries into your trusty casserole dish, add whatever sweeteners or flavorings turn you on, plus a tablespoonful or two of water or orange juice, pop the lid on, and take it out when it smells like sauce.)

Filling your oven full doesn't just save energy - it's easy and delicious, and leaves you more time for the fun things in life!

Green Works by Clorox

I just got back from the grocery store. While there I noticed a new brand of dish detergent, GreenWorks. Which on closer inspection, is being put out by Clorox.

Yeah, right.

I guess the mainstream American population really is that gullible, but just putting the same old product (it's full of SLS and ethanol) into a container decaled over with grass and daisies and putting "Green" in the name doesn't make it sustainable.

But still it's worth checking out. So I did a little search on Clorox and discovered that Green Works is actually being endorsed by the Sierra Club. It's got an environmental record that is not perfect but pretty good. Here's what the Sierra Club says about Green Works:

The bottom line is that these products are environmentally safe, affordable, work well, and will be available to millions of people. They can help alter consumer behavior overall and will support the good work of the Sierra Club.

Well OK, so maybe next time I'll buy it. But really, anything that comes in a non-refillable plastic container is anything but sustainable - even if it's marginally better than the next item on the shelf.

When I was in Costa Rica 15 or so years ago the dish cleaner of choice was a thick, almost solid, gooey kind of soap. You'd dip your dish cloth in it and wash away. It strikes me that something like that might use a lot less packaging. If anyone knows how to obtain it in this country please let me know.

Shopping Spree!

Normally I avoid unmitigated consumerism. We all know what overconsumption of resources is doing to the world.

But once in a while ya gotta just let loose.

My son Isaac needed winter boots, so we jumped in the Jetta and headed off to that shopping Mecca, a huge, warehouse-sized frenzy of merchandise...

No, not the local mall. And certainly not Wal-Mart.

I'm talking about Goodwill!

It's the first place I go for nearly everything inedible. It's great, 'cause you can shop with a clear conscience on all sorts of things.

• Almost everything there is pre-owned. So you're saving stuff that might otherwise be tossed. And you're saving the environmental cost of manufacturing something new.
• Goodwill provides jobs and career training for the socially disadvantaged and mentally and physically disabled. Not to mention affordable duds for those struggling on a low income. So you can feel good about supporting them.
  
• And it's totally cheap (especially the clearance rack, where you can sometimes find swanky high-class clothes for ridiculous prices.) Which means if you want to, you can go on a hog wild shopping spree without bouncing a single check.
  

Tonight, we went home with two fleece tops, a nice sweater and a Berman's leather bomber jacket for Isaac, and a silk shirt and two cozy Christopher & Banks sweaters for me.

Our total bill? Are you sitting down?

$33.69!

Only one problem - we didn't find any winter boots his size.

Oh, well... we'll just have to try the Salvation Army store down the street.