I visited it when I was in NYC a month ago, and can vouch for the fact that it is amazing. It’s beautiful and unique and just fits into the urban landscape in such a seamless way.

Take a look at the High Line website for more info and photos. Also fascinating is the story about how it came to be. Take a look!

• Increase the life of your roof
• Save energy for cooling in summer, and heating in the winter
• Reduce noise
• Help improve air quality
• Reduce stormwater runoff
• Look bitchin’

Before you go off and plant some sod on your roof, you should know that they’re not exactly easy to install – according to Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, they consist of, “a high quality water proofing and root repellant system, a drainage system, filter cloth, a lightweight growing medium and plants.”So they are a somewhat complex, and perhaps mostly suited for larger buildings, although there are some who are pioneering planting them on residential buildings.But if you’re interested, the really good news is that cities like New York  and Chicago are offering tax credits for installing green roofs.  Regardless, it’s really fascinating and gorgeous stuff. Take a look! 

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.

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!

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!

I wrote a couple months ago about why I hate Starbucks for promoting waste. I’m here to say that I recently made a discovery which helps Starbucks atone, if just a little, for the waste they promoted previously.

I stopped going to Starbucks a while back to both support other stores and as a way to protest Starbucks’ blatant waste. Well, last week, I had no choice as someone I was meeting with vehemently insisted on going to Starbucks. Resisting with every bone in my body, I told him that I’d meet him there, but only if we could sit outside since I would buy a drink somewhere else. (I give credit to Starbucks for not asking me to leave since I didn’t buy anything from their store).

As I was leaving, I walked through the inside of the store. Lo and behold, I saw a bin in the corner which contained free bags of used coffee grounds. Apparently, Starbucks has been offering free grounds since 2004. I think it’s a fantastic program. Used coffee grounds are great for the garden and great for composting. Adding coffee grounds to compost or ground soil increases the nitrogen balance, increases the rate of composting, and provides food for worms, which are great for gardens and plants. Here are some tips I read from an EPA article:

• Add brown leaves and grass clippings to offset the acidity of coffee grounds
• Grounds should not make up more than 25% of a compost pile
• Add one teaspoon of wood or lime for every five pounds of grounds to offset acidity levels
• Coffee grounds helps worms flourish – worms are great for your soil and garden!
• Coffee grounds can help repel pests

If you need a lot of coffee grounds, work with your local Starbucks manager. Many are more than happy to work with you on special needs. I’m still going to pass on buying coffee from Starbucks, but I won’t resist as strongly the next time someone wants to go there.

Anyway, I wanted to point out this really great Vegetable Calendar they have in the ‘Seasonality’ section of their site – it shows what is in season, when. It’s a perfect way to think about what to eat, when. Take a look, and think how you can eat smarter!

TTMYGG: So, why does Google have a garden?

Rebecca: The “Garden” at Google is multi-faceted. We use it as a demonstration and teaching garden to teach people how to grow their own, fresh, organic, seasonal produce. Here in Santa Clara, we can grow all year long! All produce from the garden is used in [Google's] cafes. We also want to highlight the importance of growing your own food so that people will understand the importance of preserving the little land that we have left in this country which is viable for growing!

I also do the “Green Tips of the Day” here at Google. I work on composting, School Garden Projects, and on a team to bring ESE (Eco-friendly, Sustainable, Edible) Landscaping to the GooglePlex.

This was a really fun interview for me, and Rebecca and I agreed to follow up with further discussions in the future. Thanks to her for taking the time to talk to me in my first TTMYGG interview, and look for more from Rebecca here soon!

As many of you, our well educated readers undoubtedly know, starting in 2006, many beekeepers started reporting mysterious disappearance of huge numbers of their bees. One day they would fly off, with 30- 70% never returning again. These losses, caused by a poorly understood malady called Colony Collapse Disorder, have been so severe that 23% of beekeepers in 2006-2007 were effected.

This problem proves yet again how dependent we are with nature, and how our lives are truly intertwined with the well being of the planet. After all, one-third of the food we eat is pollinated by the honeybee. According to The Independent, 90 or so crops they pollinate each year are worth over $14.6 billion dollars in the U.S. alone.

Since the 1980s, our destruction of habitat and misuse of pesticides have caused bee (and other insect populations to decline). But nothing like this, which is killing bees at such a scale that it may actually threaten our food supply.

Luckily, there is some good news. First, a team of scientists from the Columbia University , Pennsylvania State University, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Arizona, and 454 Life Sciences has found a significant connection between the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and colony collapse disorder. This is a great breakthrough, although the findings are not yet conclusive, from what I could tell.

Secondly, organizations of all types are pitching in to help. From Burt’s Bees, to Häagen-Das
to the USDA, many different groups are working to ensure that honeybees keep on pollinating, and so too can you!

What can you do? Here are a few ideas:

1. Don’t pesticides indiscriminately. Honey bees are out mid-day foraging for nectar, and that’s the worst time to use them.
2. Plant good nectar sources such as red clover, foxglove, bee balm, and joe-pye weed. Choose flowers that bloom successively over the spring, summer, and fall seasons such as coreopsis, Russian sage, or germander. For more info, the USDA recommends www.nappc.org.
3. You can actually raise your own bees! Actually, as it turns out, and much to my surprise, beekeeping as a hobby is alive and well. The best way to get started is to visit a local beekeeping association, which you may be able to find through a simple Google search.

Thanks to Scarlett at feedcompany.com for the great post suggestion!

As they discuss in today’s New York Times the issue of how we all get our food is becoming increasingly important as concern over global warming and consumer demands both increase. 90% of produce in the UK, for instance, is imported. But what can be done about it?

One solution the article discusses is taxing imports – something that might work, except for the fact that, as some grocers argue, it might advantage vegetables grown closer, but which take alot more power to grow. Another solution is educating consumers about the environmental impact of imported vegetables and other goods. Good luck with that. Many people at my work can’t even bother to distinguish between the garbage and recycling bins when one is a totally different color and is readily available.

I happen to think that the only solution to this problem is make sure the costs of carbon pollution is built in to the costs of the energy that we all use. Instead of taxing vegetables or imports, we should tax the carbon content of energy. That way, the price will percolate into everything we do – whether it is hydroponic tomatoes, or whether it’s shipping kiwis from Italy. And maybe we’ll reacquaint ourselves with the natural cycles of the foods we eat.