Eco Earth Manor Blog

What a great article about being thankfully green!!! Compliments of Roland Oehme from the Sierra Club.

Ring in the New Year with gratitude for what this year has given us, and excitement for what the next year holds. Here Sierra Club Green Home writer Roland Oehme shares the top 12 things he is grateful for going into 2012.

12 Green Things I Am Thankful For:

1) My family and friends are the most important things in my life. I am grateful for the time I’ve been able to spend with them this year.

2) My local nature park that I enjoy daily walks in. The simple act of exercising in nature rejuvenates my body and spirit. I think everyone should be able to take walks in forests, meadows, hills, valleys, streams, wetlands, and other natural ecosystems.

3) I enjoy relatively clean air, water, and soil. However, I see this as the minimum of what is acceptable. Much more can be done to clean up my local environment, especially the Chesapeake Bay (the largest estuary in the United States).

4) All of my fellow human beings who are actively engaged in protecting the earth’s animals, environment, and people in order to create a healthier future for all.

5) More and more people are aware of the major impact we have on the global environment be it climate change, radiation leaks, trash, air pollution, soil pollution, or loss of animal and plant diversity. More importantly, more and more people realize that we can turn this around.

6) Many governments are taking concrete action to ensure a cleaner environment. For instance, Denmark, Germany, and Spain are committed to changing their energy supply from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

7) More people are advocating for the regenerative design model, as described by John T. Lyle in Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development and by William McDonough in Cradle to Cradle. Regenerative design allows all life to not just exist but to grow and flourish in a healthy state.

Nature’s beauty inspires and motivates me every day.

9) Many people are learning about and adopting vegan and raw food diets. Adopting a vegan diet has enabled many people, including former President Bill Clinton, to lead a healthier life.

10) Animals’ welfare and protection is important to many people.

11) By choosing a healthy living food diet and lifestyle, I feel healthy and full of energy.

12) That the planet earth is my home.

Roland Oehme is a green and healthy living reporter. Read his blog at www.we-love-rawfood.blogspot.com.

© 2011 SCGH, LLC. All rights reserved.

I found this great article in Motoring News, on what you can do in maintaining your car, that is beneficial for the environment. Your car will LOVE you for it!

Last year marked a new turning point in which Earth-friendly alternative-fuel and hybrid vehicles obtained major attention as well as an increasing market share. On surface of that, the AAA Great Battery Roundup accumulated more than 20,000 used vehicle electric batteries and disposed of all of them in an environmentally friendly manner.

But you don’t have to have old battery packs lying around or buy a different vehicle to shield the environment. According to AAA spokesperson Michael Calkins, you can make a meaningful contribution simply by adopting two easy-to-implement methods: regular vehicle upkeep and better driving behavior.

The following tips can place you on the road to environmentally friendly car care.

1. Maintain engine running at maximum performance in order to help save fuel. Perform regular automobile maintenance at the times recommended by your car’s manufacturer. Seek timely service if the “check engine” forewarning light remains illuminated on the dash. To locate a trustworthy repair center, ask friends for recommendations or research on www.aaa.com regarding AAA Approved Auto Repair facilities near you.
2. Check the pressure in your vehicle’s tires regularly. Under-inflated tires require your engine to operate harder and use more fuel to maintain a given velocity.
3. Have your vehicle’s air conditioning serviced only by technicians who are certified to properly handle and recycle automotive refrigerants. Older air cooling systems contain ozone-depleting chemical compounds that could be released into the atmosphere.
4. Some older vehicles use switches that contain highly harmful mercury to activate lid, trunk, and glove-box lights. Many organizations, together with a number of AAA clubs across the country, now host mercury “switch out” programs in which these environmentally hazardous parts are removed for recycling and replaced with nontoxic physical switches.
5. Avoid “jack rabbit” starts, sudden acceleration, as well as speeds above the published limits; all of these routines guzzle gas.
6. Properly get rid of engine fluids and battery packs. Call your local federal government waste management firm to find out how. Never ever dispose of fluids on the ground or in any fashion that might allow them to make their way into groundwater, waters, or streams.

Correct vehicle maintenance and also environmentally friendly driving behavior conserve natural resources, reduce exhaust by-products, and reward you with a vehicle which will last longer and be safe to drive. In other words, if you “go green,” planet earth wins, your car is victorious — and you are the biggest safe bet of all!

From Mother  Nature Network

It’s that time of year. The air is crisp and football season is in full swing — the perfect time for tailgating.

Before we go much further: a reality check. There’s not much green about the idea of transporting thousands of people to a football arena, jetting teams around the country and cleaning up tons of trash after the final down. If you want a truly eco-friendly tailgating party, skip the stadium. Watch the game on TV and invite a few friends over for barbecue in the driveway.

But greener living doesn’t always have to mean doing without. It’s about doing better. So if you’ve got your heart set on a traditional pregame party with alumni, fans and family, we’ve rounded up a few ideas to green your party and demonstrate that almost anything can be made more sustainable.

The green barbecue

• Your lowest-impact grilling option is propane. Sure, propane is a fossil fuel, but it burns a lot cleaner than charcoal or wood. Propane also leaves behind less waste, and is particularly convenient when you’re cooking away from home.
• If you’re going the charcoal route, consider something like Greenlink’s All Natural Briquettes. They’re made from environmentally friendly wood sources and renewable plant wastes such as coconut husks. Unlike conventional briquettes, Greenlink doesn’t use clay or anthracite fillers.
• Forget the charcoal starter: it’s rich in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which you don’t want in your food or in the air. Use an electric starter. If that’s not practical, a good-quality charcoal chimney will get those coals glowing in minutes using nothing more than a sheet or two of newspaper.

Earth-friendly eats

• Maybe you’re easing back on your meat consumption for the sake of the environment. That doesn’t mean you’ll have to settle for trail mix at your tailgate party. Check out the Vegetarian Kitchen’s tasty suggestions for veggie barbecue.
• Not ready to give up on burgers and hot dogs? If you’ve not tried Boca’s burger patties or one of the great vegetarian franks you’ll find in most grocery freezer sections, you’re in for a surprise. A tip: veggie hot dogs are better boiled than grilled. You can always steam them in foil when you’re ready to serve.
• As for the rest of the meal, go with local, seasonal produce and plug in your favorite recipes. The great thing about beginning of tailgating season is that it coincides with the biggest selection of the year at the farmers market. Bon appetit.

Ditching the disposables

• It’s tempting to break out the paper plates and plastic cutlery when you’re eating away from home. They’re certainly convenient, but most dining disposables end up in the environment or clogging local landfills rather than finding their way into the recycling stream.
• It’s not much of a hassle to bring some dishes from home. They needn’t be your everyday ware: picking up a set of lightweight plastic place settings is a great outdoor investment, and you can probably find them secondhand for next to nothing at a garage sale or thrift store. Carry them home for washing in a lock-top box.
• If you need disposables that won’t make a mess of Mother Nature, check out Cereplast’s line of compostable products. They’re made from a bio-resin derived from corn and potato starch. For other ideas on cutting picnic waste, see our article on dining without disposables.

Click here to read the full article.

Copyright Lighter Footstep 2008