“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”

~T. S. Eliot

After much soul-searching and taking far too long of a haitus, I have decided to cease blogging here at The Living Green Solution. When one door closes another door opens and I find it’s time to embark on new projects, a new family and a new year. Hopefully I’ve imparted a little green insight and inspiration over the last few years.

With the growing number of resources available, there’s really no shortfall when it comes to finding reliable information you need. While I won’t be here to write about my green lifestyle anymore, rest assured I intend to keep living as lightly as possible and hope each of you will do the same.

Thank you all so much for being supportive, sharing your feedback and taking part of this wonderful journey! If you’d like to continue to keep in touch, you can find me over at Something Borrowed {Portland}. I will leave this site archived, but I will no longer be posting to it anymore.

Namaste,

Lane’

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For those who haven’t noticed, I haven’t written in quite a while.  Not because I don’t have anything to say, but I was planning a wedding (post coming soon), a honeymoon, I started a new job, and we had a very unexpected death (my Papa/Grandfather passed away mere days before our wedding).  Needless to say, it was a very busy summer and with other priorities, I didn’t have any time to sit down and write.

After coming back from our honeymoon (Burning Man), I went through some major life adjustments and transitions.  I purged a lot of things out of my life from personal belongings to emails to simplifying life in general.  With that said, I decided to scale back the amount I write and change focus of The Living Green Solution.  I started this a year ago, although I’ve been writing for much, much longer.  While the business side never exactly panned out, I learned a lot in the process (what works, what doesn’t, how to build a website, social media and marketing, etc.).  While I was officially unemployed at the time, it kept my mind occupied and was a great thing for me to keep busy.  However, now that I’m entering into a new phase of my life, I’m coming to the realization that I don’t want to be like every other green blog and write about the same topics.

There are so many resources on the internet these days, I feel like I’m regurgitating information that’s already been said a million times.  So, it’s out with the old and in with the new!  I’ve done some housecleaning in my personal life why stop there?  Here’s what you can expect to see here at The Living Green Solution:

• No sales of any kind.  Period.  Have a question about how to live more sustainably?  Just ask.  Free of charge.  Yep, you heard right.  Anything that I may be selling will be free, or as close to it as you can get (see second to last bullet below).
• No giveaways or product reviews.  This is not going to be a blog or site about promoting the goods of others.  It works for some, but it’s just not for me nor do I have the time.  There’s one exception to this, which will come in a future post.
• No postings “just because”.  If I don’t have anything original, opinionated or thought provoking to say, I’m not going to waste your time and post just for the sake of posting.  This goes against all that I’ve read such as “keep a regular blog schedule”.  But hey, I dislike rules, this is my blog, and quite honestly, I’ll do what I want.
• The addition of “Something Borrowed“, a Portland bridal and wedding goods library dedicated to fostering sustainability through the focus on reduce, reuse and recycle.  Something Borrowed offers a variety of wedding items to Portland community members for a small borrowing fee ($5 to $30).
• Updated blog RSS/email feed.  I’m not nor will I ever make money off this blog (nor am I sure many others do, either).  My current feed provider (Feedblitz) charges a monthly fee to provide feed services.  Because of that (and a few other reasons), my goal is to switch to Feedburner.  I’ll continue to use Feedblitz so I don’t lose subscribers, but for those interested, please update your RSS and/or subscribe to this new service.  Yes, it’s a pain but I really don’t want the out of pocket expense anymore.

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What we eat has a serious ecological impact. With food production accounting for almost 20 percent of our fossil-fuel use in the United States, we have to change our approach to mealtime if we want to reverse climate change.  By going on an “earth-friendly” diet, you’ll focus less on cutting calories and carbs and more on cutting carbon.

1. Eat Locally, Organically and Seasonally: Buy local and organic is the best first step towards an earth-friendly diet.  Buying local helps mitigate the carbon costs of packaging and shipping.  You’ll also get fresher goods as nutrients get lost as soon as fruits and vegetables are harvested.  Also try to stick to what’s in season in your area, as opposed to what you see on display in your local grocery store.  These ingredients travel shorter distances and often taste better.  To find out what grows in your region and when, visit Local Harvest.
2. Grow Your Own: You don’t have to grow an entire vegetable garden to reap benefits.  Start small with staples such as basil and rosemary.  Or other easy items such as tomatoes, beans and greens.
3. Chose Your Drinks Wisely: Not only do you need to pay attention to the foods you eat, but those same pesticides and fertilizers used to produce food also go into making your juice, milk, coffee, tea, wine and other beverages.  Coffee often grows on land where rain forests once thrived and by destroying rain forests, we’re not only increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but also potentially sending half of all bird species in those areas into extinction.  Instead, opt for organic and shade-grown coffee (look for the Rainforest Alliance or Bird Friendly seal).  Also look for organic wine, beer and vodka.
4. Be Takeout Savvy: Even the greenest of us greenies order takeout on occasion.  The next time you do, kindly decline paper napkins, plastic utensils, condiment packets, chopsticks and straws (try reusable glass straws by a company such as Glass Dharma instead).  Take it one step further and ask if you can bring your own container and have them fill it for you.
5. Ask for Sustainable Seafood: With some species now being fished to near-extinction, choosing seafood that’s been caught responsibly offers yet another way to minimize your environmental impact.  Choose seafood that reproduces in great numbers, such as Dungeness crab in season and wild Alaskan salmon (both my personal favorites).  Seafood Watch (www.seafoodwatch.org) provides a downloadable, wallet-sized card that lists sustainable picks.  Blue Ocean Institute offers what it calls Fish-Phone.  Text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish; you’ll get a text back with an ecoassessment and better alternatives.
6. Eat Whole Foods: Nearly 30 percent of the energy the food industry employs goes into taking raw ingredients and turning them into the products we find on grocery store shelves.  To maintain freshness, these ingredients have to undergo heating, cooling, and dehydration methods – all of which require tremendous amounts of energy.  Eliminating all processed foods cold cut your food-related carbon footprint by almost a third.  By sticking with whole vegetables, grains, and other raw ingredients, you not only make a positive impact, you add healthier foods to your diet.
7. Say No to Bottled Water: Americans go through an estimated 70 million-plus water bottles a day, and only 14 percent of them gets recycled.  Not only do they take up space in our landfills; manufacturing, transporting, and disposing of them consumes quantities of oil.  The manufacturing of plastic bottles actually requires twice the water that the bottles will ultimately contain.  Use a stainless-steel or aluminum coated bottle instead of plastic and drink tap water.  If you’re concerned about safety, have your water tested at a certified lab (visit the EPA to find a location near you).
8. Eat Less Meat: A cow has to eat eight pounds of corn and soy grain to yield one pound of meat, and growing all that grain requires artificial fertilizers and pesticides.  The manufacturing of these agricultural chemicals accounts for roughly 40 percent of food-production energy.  Transporting feed to livestock operations burns even more fuel.  Plus the methane gas cows emit is 21 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.  If you want to occasionally include meat as a meal, opt for a grass and legume based diet instead.
9. Eat Less of Everything: American’s portion sizes continue to grow which takes a toll on the environment through production, packaging and transportation.  So cutting down, by preparing and ordering less, not just tossing out what’s on your plate, automatically reduces your carbon footprint, as well as your caloric intake.

{image credit: Dezeen}

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Many many thanks to all of you who entered the Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Giveaway!

According to Random.org, the lucky number is #6, so let’s offer congratulations to…

“GM”!

Congratulations! Look for an email from me in your inbox.  Thank you to everyone for entering!

And of course, much thanks to Tropical Traditions for sponsoring this giveaway!

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Take a bite out of energy costs, and your impact on the environment, with these no-cost and low-cost strategies.

• Change Your Bulbs: Replace standard incandescent bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs.  CFLs use 75 percent less energy and last up to 10 times longer.  Choose brands with the blue ENERGY STAR label.
• Make an Adjustment: In heating season, set your thermostat to 65-68 degrees during the day and 58-60 degrees at night.  If you have a heat pump, turn the thermostat down no more than 10 degrees at night.  Install an ENERGY STAR programmable thermostat to adjust the settings automatically.
• Check the Setting: Reduce your water heater thermostat setting to 120 degrees.
• Wash Smart: (Laundry)  Wash and rinse clothes with cold water, and clean lint filters after each load.  To save more energy and water, run full loads.  (Dishes)  Use the water-saver washing and energy-saving drying options on your washer.
• Pull the Plug: If you have an old refrigerator or freezer in your garage or basement, it’s time to retire the energy hot.
• Keep it Clean: Check your furnace filter monthly and clean or replace dirty filters to help your furnace work at peak efficiency.
• Cook Wise: If you don’t need to use a full-size oven, use a countertop convection oven, microwave or smaller electric appliance.  On the stove, use pots and pans with flat bottoms for the most efficient cooking.
• Waste No Water: If you don’t already have them, install high-performing showerheads and faucet aerators in your bath and kitchen.  We sell two water efficient showerheads in our shop: the Oxygenics 5-Star Spa 2.0 GPM Shower Head or the ShowerStart Roadrunner 1.5 GPM Shower Head.
• Turn ‘Em Off: Turn off the lights when you leave a room.  Turn off televisions, computers or appliances when they’re not in use.
• Power Down: Unplug power strips, battery chargers and small appliances when they’re not in use.  The power used when plugged in really adds up.  If you have a strip that’s outdated or in a hard to reach location, opt for a new strip with a handy on/off remote control, such as the Belkin Conserve Energy-Saving Power Strip with Remote sold in our online shop.
• Lose the Leak: Stop air leaks by installing gaskets behind switch plates and outlets on exterior walls.
• Just Caulk It: Caulk small holes and cracks under countertops and around plumbing pipes, exhaust fans, dryer vents, sink and bathtub drains and fireplaces.
• Damp It Down: Close fireplace and wood stove dampers when not in use, but wait until several hours after the fire is completely out.

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With plastic in nearly everything, it’s nearly impossible to avoid it completely.  There are, however, things you can do to avoid exposure to plastics.

1. Opt for Glass or Ceramic: Use alternatives to plastic packaging whenever possible.  Bring your own containers to shop and for take-out.  Store food and water in glass or ceramic containers, or in safer plastics #2, #4, or #5.
2. Zap Savvy: Microwave foods in glass or ceramic containers that are free of metallic paint.  Use another container such as a plate to cover food.
3. Fresh or Frozen: Choose fresh or frozen foods in glass containers or bottles.  The coating on the inside of metal cans contains bisphenol A, so minimize use of canned foods and drinks.
4. Be Cool: If you do use plastic water bottles, do not use them for warm or hot liquids.  Replace them when they get scratched, cracked, or cloudy.  The thin, #1 and #2 water bottles are designed for single use.  This is one example that reuse is not the best option.
5. Clean Green: Clean plastics gently.  Avoid harsh detergents or abrasive cleaners that can abrade or etch plastics.  If you do use plastic and clean them in the dishwasher, always wash them in the top shelf.  For safer cleaning alternatives, check out our entire line of great green cleaning products including our Enzyme Cleaners.
6. Smell Well: Use fragrance-free products for laundry, cleaning, personal care, and air fresheners.  These contain phthalates.  Even fragrance-free products may contain so-called masking fragrances.  Be sure to always read the label.  If one isn’t provided, skip buying the product.
7. Breast is Best: When you aren’t able to breastfeed, use glass baby bottles.
8. Zip the Sip: When your baby graduates to sippy cups and plastic dishes, use wares made from #2, #4, or #5 plastics.  Some children are able to skip the sippy stage completely.
9. Nix the PVC: Avoid PVC (#3).  Use phthalate-free medical supplies where available.  Avoid vinyl toys and clothing, which also contain phthalate.  PVCs contribute toxic dioxins to the environment in the manufacturing process and after disposal.
10. The Bottom Line: Plastics #2 (HDPE), #4 (LDPE) and #5 (PP) are safer plastics.  Avoid #3 (PVC – contains phthalates), #6 (PS – leached styrene is a neurotoxin); and #7 (OTHER – contains bisphenol A) except new bio-based plastics labeled as such.  There are a few studies that indicate caution about #1 (PETE) so try to avoid it if you can.

{image source: find me a cure}

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Pests in your home can be a nuisance and bad for your health, but using pesticides to fight them can have dangerous side effects.

Pesticides are known to cause eye, nose and throat irritation; skin rashes; stomach cramps; nausea; damage to the central nervous system and kidneys; and increased risk of cancer.

Children, because they are still growing and developing, are especially vulnerable to the chemicals in pesticides.

Integrated Pest Management is an effective, safe, and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management.  All pests need to survive are shelter, food, and water; so there are three main ways to control them:

1. Make pests unwelcome in and around your home:
   • Seal up small cracks, holes and crevices in visible areas, especially around pipes and wiring.  Don’t forget hidden areas such as under the kitchen sink.
   • Pull soil or mulch back from the foundation of your house, keep tree branches and shrubbery well trimmed, and stack firewood and lumber away from the house and 18 inches off the ground.
   • Remove water vessels like old tires, empty cans, and flower pots from the yard and make sure to fix any leaky pipes.
   • Clean out gutters regularly, especially at the end of Autumn when a majority of leaves have fallen.  Make sure gutters and downspouts are channeled away from your foundation.
   • Pay particular attention to the maintenance and upkeep of your home’s foundation.  Moisture problems can cause major pest issues for homes with basements or crawlspaces.
   • Screen crawl space vents and seal window frames.
   • Do not pile up trash or recycling in the outside bins.  Keep bins closed.
2. Reduce food availability:
   • Store foods and pet foods in tightly sealed containers.
   • Store garbage in sealed containers and dispose of it regularly.
   • Wipe up spills and crumbs right away.  Clean your dirty dishes.
   • Vacuum frequently.
3. Eliminate pests themselves:
   • Place traps and baits in infested areas as opposed to praying pesticides.
   • Use homemade repellents.

Recipes

• Spray Bottle of Soapy Water: One tablespoon of dishwashing soap in a gallon of water.  Spray soft-bodied insects like aphids, mealybugs, and spiders to kill them directly.  To eliminate scent trails for ants, wipe down trouble areas.
• Boric Acid (Borax): Boric acid works as a poison for most insects.  Sprinkle the powder in trouble areas.  While boric acid is a better alternative to pesticide, it can still be hazardous.  Be sure to keep out of reach of children and only use in locations where it will not contact people or animals, such as behind counters and in crevices in the wall.
• Corn Starch in Vacuum Bag: Placing corn starch in your vacuum bag suffocates ants and fleas.

If you must use pesticides, apply only as a last resort and use the lowest effective amount.

• Chose methods that reduce exposure, including spot applications like baits, traps, gels, and pastes.
• Read the label and follow the safety precautions.
• Protect your skin, eyes, and lungs while using pesticides; always wash your hands after use.

For additional information on Integrated Pest Management, check out the Environmental Protection Agency.  They have information for residents on how to solve pest problems in the home.

{image credit: Lance and Cromwell}

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With summer here (or just about here in Portland), here are ten simple outdoor water-saving tips to help you conserve water and save money.

1. Adjust your sprinklers so that they’re watering your lawn and garden, and not the street or sidewalk.
2. Water early in the morning (before 10am) or later in the evening (after 6pm) when temperatures are cooler and evaporation is minimized.
3. Set it, but don’t turn it! Whether you have a manual or automatic system, be sure to adjust your watering schedule.  As the weather changes, so will your landscape’s watering needs.
4. Water established lawns about 1 inch per week (a bit more during hot, dry weather).  Find out how much to water each week with Conserve H20′s Weekly Watering Number.
5. Inspect your overall irrigation system for leaks, broken lines, or blockage in the lines.  A well maintained system will save you money, water, and time.
6. Consider replacing some grass area with low water use plants and ornamental grasses. They are easier to maintain than grass, look beautiful, and require far less water.
7. Group plants with like watering needs. Creating “watering zones” in your garden will allow you to give each plant the water it requires – not too much or too little.
8. Add a shut-off nozzle to your garden hose and save about 5-7 gallons each minute your hose is on.  The garden hose nozzle that I recommend (and personally use) is available in our online catalog, the Deluxe Garden Hose Nozzle.
9. Adjust your mower to a higher setting. A taller lawn provides shade to the roots and help retain soil moisture, so your lawn requires less water.
10. Water in several short sessions rather than one long session to allow for better water absorption and to prevent run-off.

{image credit: Kai [WSM]}

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