Did YOU Turn Your Lights Out?

Of course you did . . . right?  And now you're wondering what to do next?  Why not commit to an hour of world changing, earth saving action every day between now and Earth Day on April 22nd - that's 26 days ... 26 hours of making a difference!  Imagine what you'll achieve!!

Need some inspiration?  Here's 26 ideas to help get you started:

1. Go for a walk
   Get to know your neighbourhood, get some exercise and give your car a rest!
2. Cook up a storm
   Get together with a few friends and fill your freezers with delectable dinners and tasty snacks.  Its fun, its real food - and it will save you money and make eating in easier than take-out!
3. Attend a Council meeting
   Find out what the issues are in your community.  Attend local government meetings.  Have your say.  Get involved!
4. Plant something
   It can be basil on the windowsill, tomatoes in the patio, a tree in the backyard or a glorious edible landscape.  Join a Community Garden (or start one), engage in guerrilla gardening, get some dirt under your fingernails and enjoy the beauty and bounty of nature!
5. Play board games
   Turn of the TV and have a night in with the family.  Board games are fun and teach kids to take turns, to count, to strategise, and to win (and lose) with grace - among other things.
6. Shop local
   Have yourself a local meal - with nothing on the plate that comes from further away than 100 miles.  Invite your friends and neighbours and help spread the word about the great food producers you have on your doorstep.
7. Volunteer
   Donate an hour or two of your time to a good cause.
8. Clean Up
   Take a walk around your neighbourhood picking up litter, or clean up your favourite spot in nature.
9. Read Aloud
   "When parents take time to read aloud, children are touched not only by the stories, but also by their parent's love" Calm and Compassionate Children by Susan Usha Dermond
   And you don't have to stop just because your kids can read for themselves.  Some of my most vivid and comforting childhood memories are of my father reading to me as a 'big kid'.
10. Make Do
    Do you really need new?  Or will what you have already do the trick?  Can you borrow from a friend or neighbour?  Can you repurpose something else to do the job?  Making do isn't just about doing without or being frugal, its creative too!
11. Pay AttentionMake a point of noticing the good things that happen in your day, share them with your loved ones and encourage them to do the same.  Keep an eye out for the beautiful, the unexpected, the inspirational, those little things its so easy to miss as we go about our busy lives.
    "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."- Albert Einstein
12. Go Without
    Try 26 days without buying anything new, or without buying any chocolate/coffee/shoes . . . and use the savings to help pay off any debts or donate it to a cause that moves you.
13. Give
    Give something away every day between now and Earth Day.  Make a point of being generous.
    
14. Bring Your Own
    Take your lunch to work each day.  Take a reusable coffee cup for your morning coffee on the way to work.  Make sure you have reusable cutlery in your drawer at work so you can say no to plastic stuff if you get a take-out lunch . . .
15. Get Rid of Clutter
    Clear out your closets and cupboards of things you no longer need - hold a garage sale, list your goodies on FreeCycle, hold a swap party or donate them to charity.
16. Be Prepared
    Put together a 'going green kit' stocked with reusable grocery bags, a BYO lunch kit, Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs, a water bottle, a travelling coffee mug, a selection of green cleaning products . .
17. Start Composting
    You don't have to have a big back yard to be able to compost your food waste.  A Bokashi system can fit under your bench, or you could set up a worm farm on your patio.  And if you don't have room for much of a garden you can always donate the results to your local community garden or share it with your neighbours. 
18. Build a Community
    Invite your neighbours over for a board games extravaganza, organise a street party, play charades, start a food co-op, have dinner with friends.  Connecting with others is good for the soul!
19. Watch a Movie
    Get inspired, get outraged, get informed.  Invite your friends around to watch a documentary about an issue that you are passionate about or that you feel you need to know more about.  It could be coffee, dolphins, capitalism or sustainable living . . .
20. On Yer Bike
    Ditch your car and bike to work. 
21. Smile
    Make a point of smiling at people.  Even when you don't feel like it.  Especially when you don't feel like it!!
22. Swap Your Old Books
    Update your library with a book swap.  You can do it online, or organise your own neighbourhood book swap.
23. Make It Yourself
    Make your own jam, knit your own socks, bake your own bread . . . pick a project and perfect a new skill over the next 26 days.
24. Help Someone
    Mow your neighbour's lawn, share your umbrella, look after your sisters kids for an hour.  Go out of your way to lend a hand every day for the next 26 days.
25. Do It By Hand
    Do you really need a machine to do that?  Get out your shovel to clear the snow from you driveway, use a rake to tidy up the autumn leaves in your back yard, try opening the cans with a manual can opener, get out of your chair to change the channel.  There are gadgets for everything - and sure they can make life easier, but they use power and make us less active.  How much technology do we really need to live happy, productive lives?
26. Spread the Word
    Tell as many people as you can reach what you are doing to change the world between now and Earth Day.  Share your actions in the comments below, on your blog, with your work colleagues, family, neighbours, the guy next to you on the bus . . . Who knows what movement you will inspire :)

5 Ways to Reduce your Rubbish

Image via Wikipedia Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Its all very well as a trash minimisation mantra, but it doesn't seem to be making much of a dent in the amount of garbage we send to the landfills each year.

I think its time to add another few "re's" to the list . . .

RETHINK - rethink your consumption habits so you don't generate so much rubbish
REPAIR - get broken things fixed rather than throwing them out and buying new
REFUSE - refuse to use or buy things that generate rubbish or can't be recycled

Here's a list to help you get started reducing your contribution to the landfill:

1. Buy in Bulk
Cut down on the packaging materials by buying in bulk. Try shopping at stores where you can take your own bottles and containers to refill. Often you'll get a better deal for buying in bulk too.

2. Say NO to plastic shopping bags
Take your own reusable bags with you when you go shopping and politely refuse shopping bags!

3. Compost
Don't send organic waste to the landfill. Instead set up a compost bin for your garden. Don't have room for a compost bin? Set up a worm farm instead. Don't have a garden? Give your compost away to someone who does in exchange for a share of their veges, sell your fantastic liquid fertiliser from the worm farm, offer your super worm dirt to any takers on Freecycle . . .

4. Get Creative
Cut old sheets into strips and crochet them into floor rugs. Make sock puppets for the kids. Make fire bricks using your old newspapers. Make new clothes out of old clothes. Revitalise your old fabourite jeans with funky patches. Make beautiful mosaics using old crockery.

5. Don't choose Disposable
Look for alternatives to disposable items like nappies, sanitary napkins and razors. Buy well made products that will last rather than cheap throw away goods. It may cost more up front, but in the long run it will save you money and its better for the environment.

How to Grow Vegetables in Pots

You don’t need a big backyard to have a vegetable garden. All you need is a sunny spot on your patio or balcony and you can grow a range of vegetables. If you choose bush, or dwarf varieties then most vegetables will lend themselves to be grown in pots.

There is no need to purchase expensive pots either. You can use buckets, heavy plastic bags, barrels . . . you are only limited by your imagination and drainage. Whatever you decide to use you have to make sure it has adequate drainage or your plants will drown.

Make sure the containers are the right size. Too small and your plants will dry out quickly and become root bound. Too small and the soil will hold extra water and your plant's roots will rot.

Try to find containers in a pale colour so they don't absorb too much heat and cook your growing vegetables.

Invest in some good quality potting mix to get started. If you would like to make your own soil you could invest in a worm farm. Not only will you make wonderful rich soil, you will be recycling your green waste - no more food scraps in the rubbish - and you will also be creating fantastic liquid fertiliser.

Remember to water your vegetables regularly. Vegetables in containers dry out quickly and need more regular watering than those grown in a garden plot.

When looking for vegetable varieties to grow in your container garden keep an eye out for bush, space-saver or dwarf varieties. Below is a list of Vegetable varieties that work well in pots:

Tomatoes: Patio, Pixie, Tiny Tim, Saladette, Toy Boy, Spring Giant, Tumbling Tom, Small Fry
Peppers: Yolo Wonder, Keystone Resistant Giant, Canape, (Hot) Red Cherry, Jalapeno
Eggplant: Florida Market, Black Beauty, Long Tom
Squash: Dixie, Gold Neck, Early Prolific Straightneck, (Green) Zucco, Diplomat, Senator
Leaf Lettuce: Buttercrunch, Salad Bowl, Romaine, Dark Green Photo by FreeFotos.com Boston, Ruby, Bibb
Green Onions: Beltsville Bunching, Crysal Wax, Evergreen Bunching
Green Beans: Topcrop, Greencrop, Contender, (Pole) Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder
Radishes: Cherry Belle, Scarlet Globe, (White) Icicle
Parsley: Evergreen, Moss Curled
Cucumbers: Burpless, Liberty, Early Pik, Crispy, Salty

This list is by no means exhaustive. You can grow potatoes, carrots, celery, most herbs . . . if you like to eat it then give it a try!!

Happy gardening.

For more info take a look at these websites:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/container/container.html
http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/a/ContainerVeggie.htm
http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/a/ContainerVeggie_2.htm
http://www.mygreathome.com/outdoors/vegetables.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1620935.htm