JB just posted yesterday about her dreams of a yard, and a mower to go with it. Well, JB, don’t get a gas mower!
According to the EPA, gas mowers use 800 million gallons of gas annually and account for five percent of U.S. air pollution.
Because of this, according to one of our favorite new blogs, the Dwell Daily Blog, several cities are hosting an exchange program that allows residents to trade gas mowers for an eco-friendly alternative at a reduced price: the battery-powered Neuton CE 5.2.
Ah, but hold the phone! As it turns out, according to researchers at the University of Florida, even battery powered electric mowers cause plenty of pollution – mostly when producing the battery, and when those same batteries are not disposed of properly. (it’s the same reason that you shouldn’t necessarily replace your perfectly good car with a hybrid)
Their suggestion? Buy a corded mower – there’s no battery, and the only energy you use is the energy to run the mower.
I’ve been thinking about selling my townhome and buying a house that actually has a yard. A YARD! Can you imagine the possibilities? I can grow my own vegetables! I can have a place to sit outside!
Well, with a yard comes great responsibilities. That is, taking care of the lawn. I grew up in the midwest where our family had a pretty decent size yard (about a half an acre) and I have to admit, I never once touched a lawn mower. I am such a princess.
Anyway, I’m kind of excited about the possibility of having my own lawn to take care of – and have been thinking about push mowers. Paul thinks that this is not a good idea because he believes they would be hard to push, but I hear this is not really true anymore.
Another option would be to get an electric mower – at least this would still cut down on the pollution.
Anyone have any experience with either? Recommendations would be appreciated!
It was only a matter of time before this happened. Planet Green, the first and only (so far) 24-hour channel devoted to eco-friendliness just launched. Planet Green is part of the parent company that own the Discovery Channel, which I admit is one of my favorite channels. I never thought non-fiction television could be so compelling – and I’m not talking about “reality TV” folks.
Planet Green offers both television and online content focused around all things green. This includes not only tips and suggestions to help make your life more green, but also the latest green technology, how others are going green, and how you can detoxify your home and your lifestyle. As Planet Green says, it, along with TreeHugger.com, is helping to energize and move the green conversation into the spotlight.
There is a handy channel finder for you to located the channel it’s on in your area and with your particular subscriber. It’s even offered in HD quality if you want to be really blown away by green! They appear to have some great programming that I can’t wait to start watching.
We have written in the past about how to reduce the amount of junk mail you get. See these posts by JB on the topic: Post 1, Post 2.
Our friend, Dr. B.S. (hey, that’s his name!) discovered another way, and he’s written a post about it:
While there are many websites devoted to combating the overwhelming amount of junk mail people receive, I have been turned off by the cost and questionable ulterior financial motives that these sites proffer. However, I found one free site that I signed up for while surfing on the web this morning.
www.catalogchoice.org is a site where you can opt out of catalogs that you no longer wish to receive. The process is simple. You need to first create an account and click on the link in a confirmation email. You can then search for different catalogs that you wish to unsubscribe to. There is a pretty good selection of participating merchants that respond to this service. I signed up to opt out of future Crate & Barrel and Office Depot mailings. Surprisingly, REI was not available yet. For some of the companies, you need to enter a code number that appears on your address label. I will just wait until I receive those catalogs in the mail before I will process my unsubscription.
The service claims to take ten weeks before your catalogs will stop being sent to you. Hopefully I have a cleaner mailbox to look forward to in a few months!
Thanks Dr. B.S.!
I’m a huge fan of plants. They perk up a room, they filter the air, give off oxygen… What’s not to love?
Anyway, I have some house plants and of the things that’s been driving me nuts is finding NON-UGLY planters that also do not weigh a gajillion (yeah, that’s a word) pounds. The more aesthetically pleasing planters are typically made of some ceramic or terracotta, and if you have a large houseplant that requires a large planter, well, good luck moving that thing.
For me, being a delicate little lady (ha!), I prefer lightweight materials so I can move my plants about freely and easily. There have definitely been some innovations in planters in recent years – there’s more variety in the “lightweight” category - materials like resin and fiberglass are becoming more common. One company that I recently came across — EcoForms — even makes their planters out of renewable grain husks and natural binding agents. They’re billed as an alternative to plastic (who doesn’t love that?) and claim to be durable and lighweight (woo hoo!).
Does anyone have any experience with these products, or any of similar nature? If so, drop me a line!
