GardeningNude

Gardening Nude Naked Winner of the Week: Organic Farmers – Janet Brown and Marty Jacobson – Co-founders of All Star Organic Farm

On most Friday's, Gardening Nude The Blog features a special person or organization for the day. This person or org is the "Naked Winner of the Week." All people featured in this category are winners for doing great things for the community and trying to make a difference for the world. You can make a difference too.

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The naked winner of the week for 02-27-09 is ::drum roll please::

Janet Brown and Marty Jacobson and their entire family for living the life they believe in. Allstar Organic Farm is making a difference in their community of Marin County, California and doing it’s part to change the environmental world in a positive way. Inspiration for us all!

Janet Brown and Marty Jacobson live the organic life they advocate. They have built Allstar Organics, it includes a two acre farm filled with aromatic plants and antique roses in Lagunitas, California and ten acres of over one hundred and fifty varieties of certified organic, specialty and heirloom crops grown in Nicasio, in Marin County, California.

Their efforts to create and live a greener lifestyle benefits both the environmental and neighborhood community in wonderful ways. Allstar Organics brings locally grown product to Californians – fresh vegetables, herbs, spices, herbal salts, body sugars, and artisnal botanical essences. Janet and Marty bring their “green” products and family-oriented mindset to their local efforts, and in doing so have made a true difference for their neighbors and their world.

They understand that the freshest chemical free products will help families grow healthier. Setting an ecologically sound example is important to their family, Janet says, "In the 16 years Allstar Organics has been in operation, we are proud to have been a part of a growing network of organic and sustainable farms that practice ecologically sound, socially integrated, and economically viable renewable agriculture. We manage our farming system to improve soil fertility, encourage biological diversity, and create year-round food production for local consumption. The result is that we are able to produce an annual, diverse harvest of wholesome, nutritious, and delicious fresh foods."

Below is a short but interesting video featuring Janet discussing the importance of locally grown foods and organic farming to the large scale problem of climate change. Small scale solutions can really make a difference.

Thank you, Allstar Organics, for educating the public and bringing and organic lifestyle to your community. Your efforts are making a difference so more people understand the importance of buying local and buying organic. You win a big pat on the back and lots of applause from the Gardening Nude blog – thank you for your continued efforts to make a difference in the world!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! http://www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - http://www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

President Barack Obama’s Energy Hopes For the Future

Yesterday I was on my way to a meeting and spotted this license plate in front of me. Quickly, I snapped the photo thinking it coincidental that yesterday he addressed the nation. It made me think - what hope and fervor does our country have for the President that Americans choose to emblazon their chests, windows, and license plates with his name?

We need hope – and a belief that the future of our nation, and indeed our planet, will soon be healed. In salute to this fervent car owner and Obama follower, I am posting a quote from the Obama website – www.barackobama.com.

It says, “The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

• Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump
• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars -- cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon -- on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.”

An enormous undertaking, but I believe in my heart we can do even more. Make a difference and do your part – live greener! It will take everyone working together  and contributing their small part so we all can live in a better world. We can do it!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! http://www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - http://www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Get Yo’ Green On Tuesday - “Everything’s Amazing, Nobody’s Happy” – Why?

The Story of Stuff at www.storyofstuff.com talks about a linier usage system in the United States whereby companies process natural resources into product, then advertise and sell the product which is built to be broken from the very beginning. It forever leaves American’s wanting more – and our landfills jammed full. I believe this is a true crisis in America. For example, your clothes and shoes are out of style before the next season, so retail company’s advertise you should buy new ones instead of being satisfied with what you have. Same with your antiquated computer, cell phone, car, and virtually everything else you own.

You purchase all of these new things, you experience all kinds of wondrous experiences in your life, but you are still not happy because you are TOLD you are not happy by media and advertisers. Louis CK, the comedian, was recently on the Conan O’Brien show and agrees with me:

Watch more SpikedHumor videos on AOL Video

It seems that the American dream is about consumerism instead of living a satisfied life. Not only consumerism, but greedy consumerism. People become so spoiled and selfish about all the things in their life, that they feel the world OWES them something. This produces mean, jaded individuals who selfishly choose to ignore the existence of overfilled landfills and global warming. These mean people spread the selfish virus everywhere they go and treat the world around them in a negative fashion. They are unhappy.

I challenge you to look at your lifestyle in a different way: try to be satisfied with the things in your life. Accept people for who they are. Smile more. Try to contribute to your community in a positive way. Make a difference with the way you treat the earth.

Purchase more things, use them for a short while, throw them in landfills, and start it all over again; this is the cycle. I challenge you to break that cycle by finding creative ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Find ways to help others by donating your old things to the needy. Build a better community and a better world. Stop listening to advertisers and media tell you to do things that are wrong – use your brain and common sense and start doing the RIGHT things for yourself and your world. Get yo’ green on and make a difference.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! http://www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - http://www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Retailers listen up - -Bag? Who needs a stinkin’ bag?

Bags. We get them at every store we go to. Heaps and heaps of bags.

It takes a lot of energy and resources to make a bag and each year across the globe an estimated 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are used according to www.reusablebags.com. Only a small fraction of plastic bags are recycled.

Plastic bags are made from ethylene, a petroleum byproduct. In the United  States, approximately 12 million barrels of oil is used annually to make plastic bags that Americans consume.

You can imagine my happy surprise when I received this email from my friend and green enthusiast, Eileen Landau, the other day, “Yesterday I stopped at Borders. The cashier rang me up and put the receipt inside the book...then handed the book to me. I was stunned and asked her about bags. She said that the company decided several weeks ago to only use bags if the customer asked. Great. Less use of plastic! Might get more people to carry a reusable bag around with them. Like I only have five or so in the car at all times, right? It reminds me of shopping in England back in the '70's. You went from store to store and carried net bags to hold your food in.”

Today I tested it out – went to the nearest Borders to purchase a paperback and you can see above how they handed it to me – with the receipts tucked in the front cover. LOVE IT!

What a fantastic idea. Retailers heed the example of Border Books and stop handing out useless oil-based plastic bags. Make a difference for our world!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! http://www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - http://www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Garlic Mustard – A Sustainability Disaster in Our Environment By Guest Writer Susan Harris

Today’s blog focuses on a serious disaster happening across the United States and Canada – the devastation of our forest floors by a plant known as “Garlic Mustard.” It is horribly invasive. Being green means stewardship – to the land – to the people. Finding a way to stop the invasion of this and other invasive plants will help us to save the eco-system.

Guest blogger Susan Harris is an awesome garden and sustainability writer, and participates as a editor and blogger for “Garden Rant.com.” Susan writes for  many publications and today's sustainable and relevant blog is written by Susan. Read on....

For as long as anyone can remember, the wooded valley that my back  yard is part of has been covered with English ivy.  Not just on the forest floor but even up into the trees where it matures and produces berries, berries that are then spread far and wide by the birds.  But then came another vine that - can it be? - managed to win the battle of primacy with the ivy - the five-leaf akebia.  It now has a lock on the lowest, wettest parts of the valley.

Then suddenly the fastest spreading invasive plant EVER landed in our valley -  the lovely garlic mustard.  Its beauty (of sorts) is important to mention because when I’ve shown it to neighbors I’ve discovered that it’s been picked, brought indoors and admired!   Oh well.  Even if they removed it by its roots it wouldn’t slow the steady march of garlic mustard across the woodland floor. 

It’s really no wonder this plant is so successful.  It likes the sun, it likes the shade, it seems to like every damn location in North America.

So thank to Barbara Lucas and her pals in the Midwest for this video that goes a long way to showing exactly what mustard garlic looks like and then how to get rid of it.  I think I’ll forward this to my neighborhood Yahoo group with the broad hint that we make ridding our valley of this one plant our New Year’s Resolution for the lovely woodland we share.

Garlic Mustard Identification and Control from Barbara Lucas on Vimeo.

Garlic Mustard Identification and Control from Barbara Lucas on Vimeo.

Susan Harris is a Master Gardener, garden coach, garden and sustainability writer and blogger located the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.  Visit her online at one of these wonderful websites - www.sustainablegardeningblog.com, www.sustainable-gardening.com, www.gardenrant.com or www.dc-urban-gardener-news.com

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! http://www.thecasualgardener.com/, The Green Blog - http://www.gardeningnude.com/, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com/

‘Having An Alien’ In Hawaii; How My Life Was Changed Forever By A Hunk O’ Chinese Beef

Almost nine years ago I spent one glorious week in Maui, Hawaii with my new husband – we had been married eight months before the trip. It was heaven; Luis and I saw whales from our breakfast nook, snorkeled with sea turtles, and inhaled as much beauty as we could while we were there.

In the middle of Maui is a shopping mall with a food court, at least at that time it was there, and one day Lu and I decided to stop by and eat. He insisted on hamburgers and sat down at a hamburger joint, while I pined away from the Chinese food across the way.

After a debate whereby Luis announced that hamburgers were better, I went across and bought a beef dish which I brought back to eat with Lu. His food was still cooking, so I dived in with relish. It had been a long morning and I was eight weeks pregnant and particularly hungry, so was jamming food in faster than a hula dancer can twitch her hips.

Half way through my lunch I realized I had somehow managed to lodge a piece of beef in my throat. Yeah – real pleasant image – thank you. Delicately, I tried to cough it up without bringing too much attention to myself. No luck. Then I tried swallowing it down which only lodged it tighter.

Minutes passed, and I was still struggling with the damned piece of meat. Now I was getting angry and scared. I could not speak, so was unable to get Lu’s attention – he was staring at the short order cook’s grill drooling no doubt - and the situation was getting more serious.

As I tried to choke up the beef a lot of odd thoughts entered into my head. Like - why is this happening to me? This has to be the stupidest thing I have ever done. I began waving my arms and wondered why no one saw I needed help? Soon I sank into panicked, self-deflating thoughts. I am going to fail at this. I am going to fail at saving my own life and I am going to die right here on the floor of a mall in the middle of Maui.

Get Yo Green On Tuesday - Oak Savannah Prairie - A Day To Remember

Near my home in Illinois, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) exists on hundreds of acres and is considered unique because the site contains most of the major types of ecosystems representative of the Midwest. These include tall grass prairie, oak savanna, agricultural fields, woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands. It is a great place to take a child to experience nature up close.

One perfect late summer day last year I drove my youngest daughter over to Fermilab with my mother-in-law. I drove as far out into the prairie as I could on an unpaved path and stopped near a stand of old oaks, some over 100 years old. We spent a remarkable afternoon wandering around the old oak trees. If you looked to the sky - nearly 40 feet up - you could see a canopy of leaves with dappled sunlight dancing through the shapes.

If you looked down beneath your feet you could see litter from the trees and prairie. There were seeds of all sorts if you knelt on your hands and knees and nosed about. My favorite moment was when my little girl held up a handful of burr oak acorns and asked me what they were. Grandma took over and told her all about their growth cycle, what they meant to the ecosystem, how they grew, and how she played with them when she was a child. My daughter asked why people were sometimes called “tree huggers.” I told my girl about how the term “tree huggers” was sometimes intended as a negative. It is true that not everyone believes the prairie and forest should be saved. The special prairie and trees we were standing next to were some of the last in the region due to land development. Her little eyes sparked up, and without saying a word, she went to the nearest Oak and wrapped her arms around it and hugged tight. Expressing clearly what nature meant to her. What a memory.

We enjoyed an Indian Summer moment as the sun beat down on our shoulders and we walked farther out through the prairie. Wind blew and we could hear the whisper of grass blowing. Seed heads full of their autumn harvest, shook and trembled when we walked past. Insects twirped and flew as our shadows passed by. Truly a day to remember.

When was the last time you took your children or family out into nature? Get yo’ green on and do it today – make a difference in their lives.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

How Now Green Cow - Simple Solutions for Our Green Waste Issues

Guest blogger Daniel Shellenberg writes the awesome farmer-goes-green blog  known as "AGroGuru" - a great blog focusing on how greening impacts the agriculture community. Today he is my guest blogger and brings interesting insight into how we might find a surprisingly simple solution for green waste. Read on -

I had the wonderful experience of working with the Green Team during a winter solstice celebration in Lake Wales, Florida. The yoga camp, organized by 3HO, serves three vegetarian meals a day for about 500 people over the course of one week. As you might imagine, the camp produces its fair share of green waste. In search of a quick and efficient solution, we turned to local rancher, Bob Massie for help. He was happy to take about 9000 pounds worth of what he called “wet feed” off our hands.

Why do I think feeding green waste to cows is a novel idea? Well, we have a solution to dealing with green waste without added effort or cost. One alternative is composting and using it as a soil amendment.  Composting is great, but it requires time to break down and a committed operation to get it done right. Another alternative is further packing green waste into landfills and harvesting the methane gas as an energy source.  This is innovative idea, but methane capture from landfills requires a significant investment for what appears to be a low return.

The truth is feeding green waste to cows is a simple solution that uses existing resources. In many countries, feeding green waste to cows is common practice and I feel it has potential for three main reasons. First, infrastructure for green waste collection in many communities already exists. Second, animal feed prices have skyrocketed and farms may find green waste to be a cheaper alternative. And finally, farms are highly-efficient operations that operate independently.

It’s time to take home the message that agriculture is an integral part to helping with society’s challenges. I encourage you to reach out to a local farm and see what resources you can offer.  Who knows?  Maybe you go home with fresh produce and a sense of service.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Learn How and Why Your Stuff Ends Up In The Landfill: "The Story of Stuff"

This week I was sent by a friend to view a powerful online movie called "The Story of Stuff." It was 20 minutes long, which I thought was horrid - in a very busy world I rarely have time for a 20 minute movie, particularly during the work day.

My decision was to watch half the movie while I ate lunch, and see if was worth continuing. An hour later I had watched the movie in its entirety TWICE - it turned out to be one of the most powerful and thought-provoking green experiences I have had in a long time.

Below is a brief 52 second teaser to the show which gives you a surprising look into the world of where all our stuff goes that we use every day - from natural resource to product to retail to landfill. Most of the information provided I knew, but had not examined and understood the complete process of how all that stuff worked.

Whether you choose to agree or disagree with "The Story of Stuff," I hope that you will watch it and think about the importance that each and ever person and all our stuff has on the planet. How about you start with ten minutes at lunch and see where it goes? Go to www.storyofstuff.com and get started.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

GREEN AND SIMPLE TIP: Guest Puggy Sully says, "Get Outside and Enjoy Nature For Better Health!"

Louise O'Callaghan, quite an incredible photographer from England, recently introduced me to her all-to-adorable pug, Sully. You can see him below romping in England's recent heavy snow. And YES - I am madly in love with Sully - look at how awesome he is!

  

Sully's green and simple puggy tip for the day is to get outside and enjoy nature.  Recent scientific evidence from Dr. Simon N. Young, the Editor in Chief from the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience shows that getting outside in nature is a significant way to reduce depression and uplift mood by increasing serotonin levels in the brain. Feel good brain chemicals are stimulated by numerous ways, however, exposure to direct sunlight and nature is one of the best and quickest ways to attain a higher serotonin level and get an instant mood boost.

 

Being green means more than recycling; it also means enjoying nature and taking care of it - to live life experiencing your community and world in a positive way. Take great advice from guest puggy Sully: get outside today to live green and feel wonderful!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Get Yo Green On Tuesday - How Do You Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle? MacGyver It!

From 1985 to 1992, for 139 television episodes, Richard Dean Anderson played MacGyver, a scientist/spy/adventurer who believed in environmentalism before it was popular and saved the world at least once an episode.

What made me love MacGyver, beyond his dashing good looks and coolio mullet haircut, was that he worked at finding a solution to a problem instead of whining around about it. MacGyver had the ability to get out of any difficult situation by utilizing his ever present roll of duct tape (and perhaps a paperclip and piece of gum) - all while his hair stayed perfectly coifed. Amazing. These neat tricks soon became known as "MacGyverisms."

What does MacGyver have to do with the concept of reduce, reuse, and recycle? Are you kidding? We should all take a lesson from MacGyver - instead of throwing something in the landfill, why not THINK first? Do a MacGyverism - repair that ripped book, clean up your old furniture, donate your clothing to a resale shop, give your newspapers to a pet shop, sell all your unwanted stuff in a garage sale. Reinvent the obvious. Think first and do something creative and good.

Richard Dean Anderson went on to star in Stargate SG-1 after the MacGyver series ended. While the new series ran for ten years, his legend lived on as MacGyver off-screen. Even Americans who are unaware of the television show, still know what the term "MacGyver It" means - to use your creativity to find a solution and make it work.

Dear readers, it's confession time: my favorite television show for the last ten years has been Stargate - and before that it was MacGyver - yes, I confess I am a geek, a sci-fi nerd, a techie addict, in other words; a true Richard Dean Anderson fan. It all started with MacGyver and the dream that somehow intelligence and creativity can be married successfully in an environmentalist-save-the-world kinda way. Fantasy perhaps? Maybe - but I think we can make living a green lifestyle real. Of course, I have never met the former MacGyver star, but I imagine Richard Dean Anderson would want MacGyver's non-violent, intelligent, use-your-creativity-to-find-a-solution memory to be celebrated as inspiration to help keep our planet clean.

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle - make a difference today and use MacGyver as the inspiration to find your own solution to save landfill space. In other words: "MacGyver It!"

P.S. NOTE TO RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON - Please email me if you see this blog - I would like to interview you (I will respond to your email after I stop jumping up and down and screaming from receiving it in the first place). Thanks.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Monday Whazzup - What is a Green Roof?

Chicago, Illinois has been building an interesting reputation as the green roof capital of the world. No kidding. As of 2004 there have been more than 80 public and private green roof projects moving forward. It is particularly interesting considering the climatic extremes the city sees. Chicago has very hot, humid days in the summer, and frequently has below zero temps in the winter. According to the City of Chicago website, City Hall was where the city's first green roof project was completed in 2001.

According to the City of Chicago’s website, the garden on City Halls' roof has over 20,000 tough and hardy plants, shrubs, and trees. Once the roof was complete, City officials measured heat readings between the next door tar roof as compared to City Hall's green roof and were completely surprised at the more than 50 degrees F difference in roof top temperatures. This heat difference reduced City Hall's heating and cooling bills by thousands.

While greatly reducing energy costs, green roofing also helps mitigate the urban heat island effect. This effect is created in the summer by black roofs and pavements that absorb sunlight at a higher rate than landscaping and greenery. Green roofs also absorb more water, reducing stress on storm water systems. Landscaped roofs generally last twice as long as a regular roof, and much of the product from a landscaped roof can be recycled instead of filling landfills with tar-based shingles.

Green roofs improve air quality, conserve energy, reduce storm water runoff and help reduce the urban heat island effect. The garden's plants reflect heat, provide shade and help cool the surrounding air through evapotranspiration, which occurs when plants secrete or "transpire" water through pores in their leaves. The water draws heat as it evaporates, cooling the air in the process. Plants also filter the

air, which improves air quality by using excess carbon dioxide to produce oxygen.

Definitively, a green roof system uses living plant material. Modern green roofs generally consist of a waterproof membrane, a root barrier, thermal insulation, a drainage system, a filter layer, planting medium, and living plants. To learn more about how a green roof is assembled and why green roofs are used, follow along with this fantastic video from the Minnesota Green Roofs Council.

So what does this mean for the average homeowner? That it is time to consider a green roof. Consulting an expert would be a great place to start, however, many  homeowners have done it themselves quite successfully. Illinois naturalist and  conservation expert, Dick Young, has been living in a green-roofed house for over fifty years. He has watched neighboring homeowners replace their roofs twice over, while his has never needed replacing. Here you can see his house in winter - the green roof helps keep it extra insulated and warm. Dick's home in the summer has a prairie on his roof and resembles a hobbit house in the summers with its green prairie-looking top. Butterflies and other native wildlife such as birds and bees enjoy the roof as well. 

To obtain more information about the how's and why's of building your own green roof, check out www.greenroofs.com or go to the EPA's green roof website - http://www.epa.gov/heatisland.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Mesothelioma Cancer - How Alternative Energy Can Make A Difference To Save Lives

Guest blogger Josh Langdon contributes a great reason today why we should all be living a greener lifestyle. Josh brings green living advice from his informational website - www.mesothelioma.com.  Malignant Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibers - in other words, it is preventable. Read on - 

Everywhere we look – on TV, on billboards, on the Internet – we’re bombarded with tips and suggestions that are supposed to help us live a greener, healthier lifestyle. We understand the value of adopting a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, but what we may be surprised to learn is that by doing so, we may be saving our health. Let us examine some destructive environmental behaviors that have led to human health complications.

Take the over 100 oil refineries operating right here in the United States for example. These refineries are releasing a plethora of carcinogenic gases into the air on a daily basis – radon, mercury, arsenic, and benzene, just to name a few. Additionally, the release of CFCs has been fairly conclusively linked to ozone depletion in our atmosphere. In the countries of South Africa and Australia, the ozone is so diminished that skin cancer rates are much higher than elsewhere in the world because of persistent ultraviolet sunlight.

Gardening Nude Naked Winner of the Week: Joe Lamp'l

On Friday's, Gardening Nude The Blog features a special person for the day. This person is the "Naked Winner of the Week." Every person featured in this category is a winner for doing great things for the community and trying to make a difference for the world. You can make a difference too.

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The naked winner of the week for 02-06-09 is ::drum roll please::

Joe Lamp'l for writing a fantastic book called The Green Gardener's Guide. This greening and gardening guide teaches readers how to take "simple, significant actions to protect and preserve our planet." It is a must-read guide for the homeowners around the world who want to live a greener lifestyle.

 

Life for homeowners has become complicated. It seems it is so much easier for most of us to do things the way we always have instead of performing simple acts of greening for the planet. Yet Joe Lamp'l, host of the PBS series GardenSmart and DIY Network's Fresh from the Garden, proves with his book, The Green Gardener's Guide, that performing simple acts to help keep our planet clean and healthy are easy to do.

While the book focuses on greening most specifically in the garden, I find it a  must for every homeowner who has even the smallest of properties. Millions of people own homes and all should know the basics of maintaining their property. Joe discusses easy ways homeowners can conserve water, recycle plastic, reuse products, compost food material, reduce chemical usage, and build a  greener community.

Joe's awesome guide points out ways for the consumer to save money as well. These tips include ideas to increase your home's cool factor in the summer and how to increase your home's warmth factor in the winter simply by planting trees and shrubs appropriately on your property. From grasscycling to rain gardening to planting drought tolerant plants; Joe has it all down to a simple and easy to understand science.

Greening your landscape can go a long way towards making a difference for our larger environment. Joe understands that it takes small steps to get there and is setting a remarkable example himself by showing the world how easy it is to do. Find The Green Gardener's Guide on Amazon.com and make a difference in your community today.

Thank you, Joe, for writing this book and teaching people how to live a greener and healthier lifestyle from the ground up. Your concern and caring are making a difference. You win a pat on the back and a big "Hurrah!" from GardeningNude.com - thank you for working so diligently to bring good things to the world!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Get Yo Green On Tuesday - Recycle Your Ass Off!

Today is Tuesday - recycling day in my neighborhood. Why do I call it "recycling" day instead of "trash" day? Because for the last seven years I have lived in my neighborhood, I have put out four recycling bins every week - minimum.

The community I live in requires that you pay for trash pick up, while recycling pick up is free. From a money-saving standpoint, it simply does not make sense to put your recyclables in the trash.

What is the most shocking revelation about this recycling policy? When I drive around the city I see an increasing number of trash cans sitting beside a very tiny, itty-bitty, miniscule recycling bin, barely filled half-full.

I am a trash digger people! I have stopped and looked - your garbage is not full of garbage - it is full of recyclables. It is no more difficult to place a tin can in a recycling bin than it is a trash bin. Landfills in the United States are at the bursting point and by being lazy and not placing recyclables in the proper spot you are part of the problem.

It is time for a change! Please stop being a part of the problem and be a part of the solution. It is time to do it today - get out there and recycle your asses off - I will be cheering you on with pride.

You are the only one who can make a difference; it all starts with a first step towards being kind to the earth.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Monday Whazzup - Recycling Old Headphones Into A Necklace - Another Awesome Green Teen Craft

Most teens and college aged music lovers go through headphones like they're going out of style. While there are several things I use the old headphones for - including garden ties and ties to organize extension cords - my favorite by far was taught to me by my seventeen year old daughter.

Here she is modeling her recycled craft idea - she reuses the old headphones creatively as a choker necklace. What an awesome idea!

HOW TO MAKE A NECKLACE FROM AN OLD SET OF EARBUDS OR HEADPHONES

Supplies:

One set of old earbuds or headphones, a charm (if you prefer)

Steps:

Step One -  Tear the two cords apart to the base (the part that plugs into something)

Step Two - Start knotting the way you start to tie a shoe (left over right and pull it from under).

Step Three - Repeat knotting. It helps to switch left over right then right over left because it evens out the ear buds.

Step Four - Leave enough room to be able to knot the ear buds over the plug.

Step Five - Tie on with the earbuds worn in the front. For a more creative look add a large stone or charm on the necklace and wear the earbuds towards the back with the charm on the front of the choker. Very cute! 

Finished!

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com