| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2008 4:41 pm |
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 Stuck with piles of nursery pots? Here’s how to recycle. Plastic nursery pots, which can pile up quickly this time of year, aren’t the easiest things to recycle. Though some local nurseries accept them, most don’t take all sizes and shapes. Fortunately, thanks to collaboration among numerous Snohomish County agencies and organizations, gardeners can easily recycle all sizes of plastic nursery pots, plus plastic nursery trays, at two upcoming recycling events. Drop-off times are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 31 at the Skagit Farmers Supply-Country Store, 8815 272nd St., Stanwood, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 1 at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds, 14405 179th Ave. SE, Monroe. Be sure pots are empty, clean and dry. Both events are part of a broader agriculture plastics recycling campaign that allows farmers and nursery owners to recycle pots and trays, plus baling twine, hay bale covers and silage covers, which can be made into new plastic items, including drain pipe, truck bed liners and plastic lumber. Call Lois Ruskell at 425-335-5634, ext. 108, if you have questions. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
If I had to give up all the meats of the world but one, I think I’d choose to keep shrimp. They’re low in fat, crazy tasty and are perhaps the easiest protein to prepare. Shrimp, however, especially cheap shrimp, can come at a high ecological cost, not to mention violations of human rights and food safety issues associated with some imported shrimp. You can read more about the issue here, where the Mangrove Action Project urges consumers to buy only U.S. shrimp (wild or farmed), which is not an easy thing to do when you start looking at shrimp packaging and label in grocery stores. I’ve had the best luck finding eco-friendly shrimp at Whole Foods, but there must be other stores carrying U.S. shrimp, recommended by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, which also recommends spot prawns from British Columbia and pink shrimp from Oregon. Where do you find eco-friendly shrimp? Write me here to share your thoughts or — better yet — comment below and start a broader conversation everyone can enjoy. If you’d like to learn more about the impacts of imported shrimp, why not join the Mangrove Action Project for a slide-show presentation from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, at SPITFIRE, 2219 Fourth Ave., in downtown Seattle, a 21-and-older venue. To RSVP (not required) or for more information, contact MAP campaign coordinator Eli Penberthy at eli@mangroveactionproject.org or 509-951-4361. Check out shrimp tips and ways to reduce your shrimp footprint here on the MAP blog. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFLs, as I was reminded by this story today, have a major ecological downside: You can't — shouldn't, really — throw them in the trash when they eventually burn out. They contain small amounts of mercury, a toxic metal that is essential for bulb efficiency but harmful to the environment when released from broken bulbs. That means you can’t exactly throw them in your curbside recycling or drop them off at the grocery store either. What to do? First, you can take heart that LED bulbs will eventually replace CFLs when they become more affordable and available. Second, I recommend starting a special box in the garage, clearly labeled, “Fragile! Hazardous!” In that box, put a gallon-size Ziploc bag and fill it with your burnt-out CFLs. When you get about 10 collected, consider one of these local disposal options: *Many lighting and hardware stores will recycle small quantities of bulbs free, in exchange for the purchase of a new bulb, or for a small fee, typically less than $1 per bulb. *Seattle Lighting: 1811 Hewitt Ave., Everett; 425-252-4154; www.seattlelighting.com; will recycle bulbs from residential customers for 50 cents per bulb for up to 20 bulbs. *IKEA, 600 SW 43rd St., Renton; 425-656-2980; www.ikea-usa.com; accepts any brand of CFL bulbs free for recycling. Tube fluorescent lights are not accepted. *Snohomish County Solid Waste accepts fluorescent tubes and CFLs from residents for free at the Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Station, 3434 McDougall Ave., Everett, one block east of Broadway; 425-388-6050. Residents can recycle up to 12 bulbs at a time at the county's recycling and transfer stations in Everett, Arlington and Mountlake Terrace and at drop boxes in Oso, Gold Bar, Granite Falls, Snohomish and Sultan. Click here for the full details. If you accidentally break a CFL, open a window and leave the room for at least 15 minutes, then visit www.energystar.gov and search for "broken CFL" or call 888-782-7937 for proper disposal instructions. Gook luck! ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Spring cleaning: Recycle old electronics this weekend Here’s a great opportunity this weekend to recycle all those old electronics — computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, stereos, you name it — buried somewhere in your garage or basement. This is the ultimate in spring cleaning. The city of Mill Creek will host a Community Electronics Recycling Event for anyone and everyone who wants to dump their e-junk — not just Mill Creek residents — tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at Mill Creek City Hall, 15728 Main St., Mill Creek. Here’s what you’ll pay at the Mill Creek event to dispose of electronics with Total Reclaim, an environmentally sound recycler based in Seattle. Only cash will be accepted. Many of these rates are reduced from what Snohomish County transfer stations typically charge, making it a great opportunity to get motivated as well as save money on recycling. TVs (up to 34 inch): $20 Console TVs: $25 Computer CPU: $7 Computer monitors: $10 Small copiers: $10 Laptop computers: $10 Stereos: $7 DVD / CD players: $5 VCRs: $5 Printers, scanners: $5 Fax machines: $5 Refrigerators: $25 (No other household appliances will be accepted.) Cell phones, keyboards, mice and telephones will be accepted for free. If this event doesn’t work for you, you can dispose of all these items and more through Snohomish County Solid Waste. Click here to read about the drop-off sites and electronics recycling rates with the county. You can also recycle at numerous private locations in the county that accept so-called e-waste, including E-Waste LLC of Lynnwood. Most electronics should not be thrown in the garbage because they contain materials that are toxic to the environment. Some electronics, such as computer monitors and tube-style TVs with cathode ray tubes, are considered household hazardous waste because of elements such as lead. Thanks to e-waste legislation that passed in Washington 2006, all electronics recycling should be free to Washington residents by January 2009. Watch this space for updates. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Here’s some good eco-news. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council announced today that conservation efforts across the region really paid off in 2007. Energy saved — according to this story — was equivalent to the electricity used by 146,000 homes, according to a report released in Walla Walla earlier this week. Though the annual survey reports on conservation achievements by individual groups — residential, commercial, industrial, agriculture and irrigation, and low-income weatherization programs — residential consumers, it turns out, were a big part of the success with “the largest contribution to that savings came from compact fluorescent light bulbs.” Yay for CFLs, Energy Star appliances and all you energy-conserving Eco Geeks. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
What are we going to do about it? Starbucks — which purchased 2.5 billion cups for stores in North America last year — isn’t doing all that much about it, according to this story. Tully’s, meanwhile, has introduced a compostable cup, but that only works if the cups don’t end up in the landfill, where stuff just doesn’t break down like it does in nature. I can recommend only one solution. Use your own cup or mug when ordering gourmet coffee. Baristas and clerks are totally used to it everywhere I go. It’s no big deal. It's worked for me, and, despite being the Eco Geek, I'm not the greenest girl on the block. Thanks to my groovy, thermos-style mug collection, my coffee stays hot much longer (no microwaving required). I don’t feel guilty about indulging in coffee because I’m not creating nearly the same waste load. And it saves me a few cents. At Starbucks, the discount for bringing your own mug is 10 cents. That’s cool, but I wonder how much each cup costs the company after shipping? I also wonder if they gave a whole quarter off all those lattes if more people would pitch in? I bet they would. Would you? What keeps you from using a reusable mug? Write me here to share your thoughts or — better yet — comment below and start a broader conversation everyone can enjoy. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
May is Bike to Work month in Snohomish County. Friday is Bike to Work day. (Click here to see all the cool details.) Our local weather should be ideal for it. You don’t, however, have to participate in a nationwide event to get into biking. You can take up cycling anytime you want. In fact, bike manufacturers are bending over backwards to cater not just to Lance Armstrong wannabes, but regular old Joes like us who want to cycle to the grocery store in regular clothes to save on gas and burn some calories. Check out my story here, where you’ll find a cool graphic on the latest generation in casual cycles. I was amazed to see how many bike styles have emerged for people who want to ride fewer than 10 miles per trip. They’re cool and don’t have to be cheesy or flamboyant like “cruisers” of days gone by. Here are a few casual cycling options to explore for summer — or later this week if we get that heat wave they say is coming. *The Electra Bicycle Co. in Vista, Calif., a company founded about 15 years ago, offers more than 150 cycles to choose from including many casual styles. *Breezers are another line of casual, easy-to-use cycles by the SimpliCity Cycle Co. of Sausalito, Calif. *Also, multiple bike makers have created casual cycles with automatic shifting, using patented Coasting technology from Shimano: Learn more about Trek’s auto-shift 3-speed casual bike called the Lime, Giant Bicycle Inc.’s Suede Coasting and Raleigh America’s Raleigh Coasting Bicycle. Cyclists and readers, what’s your favorite bike for buzzing around town or down the Centennial Trail? Please comment below or write me here. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Green thumbs, it seems to me, are often more in tune with the earth than the average, brown-thumbed Joe. Digging around in the dirt, being outside, tending delicate seedlings and working with — not against — Mother Nature often does that to a person, especially gardeners who go through the Master Gardeners training program, which offers a practical approach to sustainability. Unfortunately, not all gardeners are thinking green when it comes to the health of the local environment. They dump weed-and-feed products on their lawns in a quest for better grass, effectively overfeeding and overweeding, which causes harm to local water and animals. (There is no better definition of overkill than misapplied weed-and-feed products.) There is good news, however, according to a recent survey sponsored by the Garden Writers Association Foundation. TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, a national consumer polling organization, asked gardeners: "When making purchases for your lawn or garden, how concerned are you about the environmental impact of the products you buy?" Sixty eight percent of household respondents with a lawn or garden said they were either very concerned (34 percent) or somewhat concerned (34 percent). Households that expressed a neutral stance totaled 21 percent while 5 percent said they were not very concerned and 4 percent said they were very unconcerned. Pardon me, but how chemical happy or blissfully unaware do you have to be to be in that last group, “very unconcerned” about the environmental impact of the products you buy? Do you want to find alternatives to insecticides, pesticides and weed-and-feed products? Check out this page from the King County hazardous waste department today. You can read the entire 2008 Late Spring Gardening Trends Research Report here. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
What's your baby's carbon footprint? Here’s a fascinating look at the ultimate microcosm of American consumption, the great American infant, courtesy of Mother Jones. I highly recommend you visit the site for the entire list, but here are a few highlights. *72 percent of American adults have children; *A typical baby goes through 3,800 disposable diapers in his or her first 2.5 years; *Over his or her lifetime, each American born in the 1990s will eat 1,654 chickens, 74 turkeys, 25 pigs, 11 cows, 2 sheep and 18,675 eggs; *One American child generates as much CO2 as 106 Haitian kids; *Zahara Jolie-Pitt will produce 45,000 lbs of CO2 yearly, compared with 221 pounds if she still lived in Ethiopia; *Only 45 percent of SUV owners in the United States have two or more kids; *It would take up to 223 trees to offset the CO2 produced by a child watching three hours of TV every day for 18 years. Discuss: Comment below or write me here. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Yesterday’s Greendex survey raised some interesting questions for me. It asked not only how much local food do I eat, but also how much food I eat that I grow myself. It was a tough question to answer. Most of what I grow myself is seasonal and fresh — lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, peas — which made me realize I don’t do any food preservation. It doesn’t have to be that way, of course. People have been preserving food for ages and the tradition is still going. You can learn all about it at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, at Third Place Commons in Lake Forest Park as part of a free class called “Local Food Year-Round: Simple Methods for Preserving Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.” Master preserver Jessica Dally will offer her expert advice on various methods of preserving fresh fruits and vegetables, including jam and jelly making, fruit canning and dehydrating fruits and vegetables. Cool! Click here to read to the full details on the class, which is part of a free series by the WSU King County Extension. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Greendex reveals your eco-status on a global scale I usually don’t make time for online questionnaires, but this one is pretty cool. It’s called Greendex and it comes from National Geographic and the international polling firm GlobeScan, which recently completed a survey of 14,000 consumers in 14 countries with an aim to measure consumers' progress toward environmentally sustainable consumption. Though the study is done, you can take part by filling out a survey. You'll receive a score that tells you where you fit in with consumers in other countries on the Greendex. You’ll have to divulge your energy use and conservation, transportation choices, food sources, the relative use of green products versus traditional products, attitudes towards the environment and sustainability, and knowledge of environmental issues. I scored a 52. I was brutally honest about my excessive driving and not-so-green tendencies, so I was pleased with that number. That puts me on par with folks in Russia, who averaged 52.4, which is far better than the United States, which came in at the worst rate of all 14 countries at 44.9. Consumers in Brazil and India tied for the highest Greendex score at 60 points each, followed by consumers in China (56.1), Mexico (54.3) and Hungary (53.2). Consumers in wealthier countries, Great Britain, Germany and Australia, came in at 50.2, followed by Spain (50), Japan (49.1), Canada (48.5) and France (48.7). Take the survey and share your results and thoughts by clicking on the comments section with this blog, which is below. You can also email me personally, with your musings, but contributing to the comments section is better because we want to get a good discussion going! Good luck, Greenzos! ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Don’t miss Green Drinks May 13 Going green in Everett just got a little bit sexier. Next week Greening Properties, a small, locally owned independent real estate company, will host Snohomish County’s first-ever Green Drinks, an informal evening gathering with drinks, plus social and, perhaps, professional networking opportunities for local greenies. Green Drinks, a European-born, international movement, including meetings in cities from Billings, Mont., to Delft, Netherlands, is meant to attract a lively mixture of people, including folks from academia, government and business circles and, of course, their friends. It is an “organic, self-organizing network,” according to the central organization’s sparse Web site. Drink up from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. May 13 at 2817 Rucker Ave., Everett. Write mary@greeningproperties.com with questions or call 425-252-7601. Read a story from The Herald about Greening Properties here. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
We know fish is good for us, right? It’s one of the best proteins around if you’re a meat eater. Fears about mercury, however, often detract from the glory of seafood. Today, however, I have what I think is some pretty good news: Top Food & Drug and Haggen Food & Pharmacy stores have become the first supermarkets in the Northwest to offer Safe Harbor Certified Seafood. Micro Analytical Systems Inc. of San Rafael, Calif., founded in 2002, offers its Safe Harbor Certified Seafood seal of approval only to fish that meets standards stricter than those set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Until Haggen and Top’s 33 stores in Washington and Oregon were added to the Safe Harbor program, MASI's program was pretty much limited to a handful of California grocers. Safe Harbor Certified Seafood isn’t necessarily mercury free, but it is, according to MASI, certified to be consistently among the lowest in mercury around. Not bad. Read more about seafood and mercury from the EPA here or from the FDA here. Finally, for a totally awesome guide on how to buy environmentally friendly seafood, check out the handy pocket guide from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program here. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Green Power Baby Shower Expo set for May 3 Green living and bringing a brand-new baby into the world can often go hand in hand for new parents. That’s the concept, anyway, behind the inaugural Green Power Baby Shower Expo from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel in downtown Seattle. Sponsored by www.GreenforGood.com, a new Edmonds-based Web venture designed to encourage green lifestyles and values, this new event is a showcase for about 50 eco-friendly exhibitors. Numerous baby retailers are on the exhibitor list, such as Cozy Baby Boutique of Kirkland, plus diapering companies such as Punkin-Butt, a cloth diaper supplier out of Tualatin, Ore., plus other businesses and organization such as Pure Air Duct Cleaning and the American Lung Association of Washington. Admission is free. Dr. Alan Greene, author of “Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care” is not going to be speaking as previously planned. He had to cancel because of a family emergency, according my Green for Good sources. Get all the details on the rest of the event here. If you go, please comment below or write me here if you make any interesting discoveries. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Do you save your wine corks? I do. I have a bucket in the garage with the idea that I’ll use them for something, someday. Fortunately, Eco Geeks, there is a way to simply recycle corks in the United States instead of reusing them or sending them abroad. You can now mail them — they’re light, after all — to Missouri, where Yemm and Hart Green Materials of Marquand will turn them into cork tiles. You can even see what a cork harvest looks like in a picture on the company’s Web site. You might even start a collection program in your neighborhood. Cool, huh? If you want the long version of the story on cork, check out my friend Umbra’s take on the topic here. Do you have any creative uses for corks that go beyond trivets and bulletin boards? Please comment below or write me here if you do. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
‘Two Angry Moms’ comes to Kenmore When you think of school lunches, you probably don’t think of fresh, local food. That’s exactly what more school kids will be enjoying someday soon, however, thanks to a little-known bill called the Local Farms, Healthy Kids Act passed this spring by the state legislature with an aim to connect local farmers with schools. It makes perfect sense: Washington has a bounty of wonderful local food and schools have a demand for it. This new law could remove some of the previously insurmountable barriers. Of course, it isn’t going to be easy making the legislative dream of local food a reality. Fortunately, there’s already a movie and a movement afoot that caters especially to parents who are worried about what’s being served at public schools. It’s called “Two Angry Moms.” It’s a documentary offering strategies for bringing “nutritious meals and fresh local food into public school cafeterias.” This week the national “Angry Moms” momentum will merge with the local farm-to-school movement when Bastyr University, Whole Foods Market of Redmond and Washington State University’s King County Extension Farm-to-School Connections program host a free screening and discussion of the film at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 1 at the Bastyr University campus in Kenmore. Read the full details here. In the future, you’ll be hearing a lot more about farm-to-school initiatives, thanks to the statewide law, which could be a very cool thing indeed. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
‘Bio-plastics’ get a bashing I’ve never had much faith in ‘biodegradable plastics.’ Then today, one of my deep, dark eco-sources – green maven Gary Burk of Olympia – shared this link from The Guardian about the downsides of biodegradable plastic bags, which I noticed PCC stopped using last fall. It turns out there are eco-issues with even bio-plastic bags, which are often made with corn-based ingredients, leaving consumers with a single answer to the paper or plastic or bio-plastic question: “None of the above, please!” Tomorrow, April 29, check out The Herald’s Living section for reviews of the top reusable bags for grocery shopping, brought to you by yours truly, the Eco Geek. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
If a new Seattle-based business called Cascadian Edible Landscapes has its way, that’s exactly what an increasing number of people will be doing this summer. Entrepreneur Michael Seliga started his company to “transform underutilized private and public spaces” into areas of food production and community growth. Seliga, a licensed, bonded and insured contractor, designs and builds edible landscapes for people at all income levels using a sliding scale. This spring, as an off-shoot of his business, Seliga is offering a “community supported plant start” program or CSPS, modeled after farm-based community supported agriculture programs or CSAs, using extra plants from his private greenhouse stock. Though he’s off to a bit of a late start this year, he hopes to expand the program in future seasons. “People get a flat of mixed veggies — ready to be planted according to the Northwest planting calendar — for a wholesale price, $12 to 15 per flat,” Seliga said in a press release posted by the Cascade Harvest Coalition. “I can even deliver plant starts in Seattle if there is an order of four flats or more.” Community groups can purchase the plants for fundraisers, too. See www.eatyouryard.com or write food@eatyouryard.com for more details. If you want to learn more about eating local in your own front yard, check out the new-in-2008 “Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn” with contributions from many writers, including Michael Pollan. See also this 2006 release: “Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community.” Cool! ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW!
Happy Earth Day, everyone! Of course, we all know by now that every day really is Earth Day, now that green is most definitely the new black. It’s funny. Back when I was in high school, we used to joke every year that every day was Earth Day, but we had no idea what it really meant. Back then — it was the early 1990s — I thought it was hilarious to throw garbage out car windows anytime I saw an Adopt-a-Highway sign. Ahem. I’ve grown up a bit since then, thank goodness, and learned a lot, too. During my past year or so as Eco Geek, I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that we could save the Earth a little bit faster if we all bought less stuff, which is a very hard thing to do when we are constantly bombarded with advertising messages and retail experiences. That’s why I’ve reserved this lovely little gem from Gawker for Earth Day. It’s a short story about the Anti-Advertising Agency, a New York-based project that has launched an anti-ad campaign based on simple little stickers that say, "You don't need it." How true! How true! We don’t need it. Consumers can use the little stickers to, um, decorate, annoying ads out in the world. To get your own free stickers, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: The Anti-Advertising Agency, c/o Eyebeam, 540 W. 21st St., New York, NY 10011. BONUS: In honor of Earth Day, I also urge you to check out the recent green extravaganza from the New York Times online. It’s pretty cool, offers a fun online interface and is full of great ideas to kick-start your Earth Day, Earth Month, Earth Year. ... [Read More] E-mail | Print | Comment NEW! |
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