Reuse. Rehabilitate. Restore. Architectural salvage and repurposed pieces for the home.
The Daily Green is holding their “Heart of Green Awards” over on their website. Vote for your favorite eco-friendly restaurant, celebrity, city, cookbook…you get the picture. There are tons of categories and nominations. Don’t like Daily Green’s nomination? Write your own in.
Olivia Lane and Liz Neves are leading a workshop in Prospect Heights tonight for those of us whom are domestically challenged. The focus is on cleaning with green products, but since Olivia is also an organizer, she’ll try to figure out ways for us to make those nasty chores more fun.
When
03/08/2011 6:30pm-7:30pm
Where
LaunchPad
721 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216
New Jersey is known for many things…Snookie, high hair, garbage aroma, The Sopranos. Well, Bergen County (BTW, Blue Laws still exist-everything closes on Sunday!) came up with a brilliant idea this year.
The county, having reached their snow removal budget, opted for a less expensive alternative to salting the roads. Pickle juice! It seems the salt in the brine will do the trick. Sounds like an awesome idea considering it’s inexpensive (if you eat a lot of pickles) and environmentally friendly.
The problem is, your sidewalk may smell of vinegar. Not a problem if you live in NJ, because it’s probably not noticeable over all the other smells. Bada-bum!
One commenter on the CNN post I lifted this from suggested sea salt as that is free and plentiful. If you live near a beach, there ya go.
The Huffington Post ran an article yesterday about Detroit’s decline. Wow, what a sad and beautiful place! It looks like the set from that Will Smith movie “I Am Legend”. Wild packs of dogs roam the streets and foliage has grown where sidewalks used to be. And dogs aren’t the only things roaming around. Real wildlife is claiming parts of the city as well.
As an historic building enthusiast, I’d like to see these structures saved. As an environmentalist, I say let nature take it back. We’re always tearing down trees and destroying natural habitats. Well, let the city become a forest. It’s been abandoned anyway.
It sure has some nice architecture though.
See also: Detroit Blog
Love this! Artist Chrissy Conant created this human rug masterpiece in 2005 out of silicon rubber. The hair is real!
Effin awesome bear! $1800 from C.S. Post
These faux furs minus the heads are only $179 from Faux Fur Comforter.
Last Sunday we got to visit the Ben and Jerry’s factory in Waterbury, VT since we totally got rained out from doing any outdoor activities.
The first place I hit was the restroom. There I noticed a poem on the wall of the stall that had something to do with the “blue loo”. If I understood correctly, the waste water in the toilet was being composted and recycled. Sorry, I should have taken a snappy with my iphone, but I was in there to do my business if ya know what I mean. There’s something on their website about waste, but it’s not the kind that I’m talking about.
Next, whilst sampling the latest flavor (something with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate cows) I spotted the “cleaner greener freezer” over in the corner. The new hydrocarbon technology supposedly has zero impact on ozone depletion.
Yes, it’s true that Ben and Jerry’s was acquired by Unilever, so they’re not the same 2 guys from Long Island we’ve grown to love. But they ain’t Walmart either. Check out some of their other environmental causes.
It’s so nice to walk the trails in Prospect Park and not have to worry about ticks and scary wildlife. So what the trail is like 2 feet long and there may be a rapist or murderer around the bend? It’s the best of both worlds!
Speaking of the park, did you hear that they gassed the geese?? What a fuckin’ outrage! It’s the talk of the doggy circles and people are NOT happy.
I try my best to be an eco-friendly gal, but one thing I cannot put up with is the heat. Sorry, but I have my air conditioner running all the time in the summer. Please do as I say and not as I do so you can make up for my own hypocrisy.
1. Turn off electrical heat sources. Well, you obviously shouldn’t be cooking a lasagna on the hottest day of the year. Don’t forget that the oven isn’t the only thing giving off heat. Dishwasher? Clothes dryer? And turn off those lights!
2. Screw you, Sun. Ok, your lights are off and now I’m asking you to draw your shades or curtains. Hel-lo? Sun=The original heat source. So, you’re sitting in the dark. At least it’s cooler. You know what? Get naked while you’re at it. Nobody will see you.
3. Ice, meet fan. Stick a bucket of ice or cold water in front of a fan. That should cool down that nasty hot air blowing on you.
4. Have a wet T-shirt contest. It may seem daffy, but when I’ve been caught without a/c, I just step into a cold shower with all of my clothes. They’ll stay wet long enough to cool down some. The shoes can come off.
5. Eat spicy foods. Yeah, for real.
6. My husband says hot tea helps but I don’t believe him.
7. Make your own air conditioner.
Ah, the good news just keeps on coming out of the gulf. I caught wind of this video from Credo. It’s just an interview, nothing bad happens. There are several horrible videos on You Tube now….dolphins, birds, fish and sea turtles dying and washing ashore. I couldn’t watch. Don’t expect you to watch either. Just be aware that it’s happening and do something about it!
There’s a petition for ya to sign @ Credo.
I fell asleep on the Academy Awards, but my husband kept waking me up. One of his outbursts occurred during the acceptance speech for The Cove. “They cut him off!” was all I heard. Then back to sleep.
I can’t see The Cove because it would be too upsetting for me. The movie exposes the slaughter thousands of dolphins and porpoises in Taiji, Japan being sold as food around Asia. Let’s just say that I’m behind the cause and I can spread the word.
If you missed The Oscars like I did, the subject of the documentary, Ric O’Barry, held up a sign on how to help the dolphins, but he was quickly cut off.
O’Barry captured and trained the first five Flipper dolphins during the 60s. He later regretted it and dedicated his life to protecting the highly intelligent species.
So what was it that O’Barry was trying to say?
Well, the sign he was holding said “Text Dolphin to 44144”. In doing so, you will receive information on how to help end the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji. Of course you can always look at the Take Part website also.
We have a vegetable garden in the backyard of our Bed Stuy brownstone. Tomatoes, peppers, basil. We’ve never planted a thing in our lives and we don’t cook. But here’s a DIY to vegetable gardening.
1. Get tenants with an interest in gardening.
2. Share backyard with said tenants.
3. Tell them you’re too busy renovating the interior of the house (not a lie) so the backyard is their baby.
4. Skip town while the work is being done.
5. Try to keep the dogs from eating and shitting on the veggies.
6. Reap what they sow.
I’m a Walmart boycotter. I do realize it’s a bit hypocritical since I still shop at Target. And Ikea. Walmart just seems soooo evil!
Salon has a great review of Ellen Ruppel Shell’s book “Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture“. Shell depicts how we’ve totally become a disposable society. We don’t even expect craftsmanship any longer. Ikea is inexpensive because consumers take items off the shelves and assemble furniture themselves. It’s great design at affordable prices. But what about the skilled craftsperson? Has their value gone down?
Scarier still, Shell states that IKEA is the third-largest consumer of wood in the world and uses timber that comes mostly from Eastern Europe where wages are low and half of all logging is illegal.
I graduated from Ikea furniture years ago. I prefer vintage, so I have no worries about cost or the environment. But the next time I buy my 6 pack of wine glasses for 5 bucks, I might think about the little Indonesian children who made them.
I’m cursed with a black thumb, but I can appreciate an awesome garden when I see it. What’s better than a great vertical garden? A recycled one!
The Woolly Pocket Garden Company claims that “no woolly mammoths were harmed in the making of” these pockets. In fact, the breathable planters are made from recycled plastic bottles. If you have never planted a thing in your life, the tutorials and blog on the Woolly site seem to be idiot proof. Even I can follow them. If I wasn’t too lazy to garden.
You see things growing in unattended rain gutters all the time. So why not plant what you want? That’s what Suzanne Forsling of Juneau, Alaska did. The gutters in the photo were a Home Depot purchase, but I’ll bet it’s easy enough to find discarded gutters to reuse.
Here’s a really simple idea with a big “Wow, why didn’t I think of that first?” factor. Recycled tin cans! Hel-lo! Why didn’t I think of that first? Paint them any color you like. Just be sure to use rust proof paint. And maybe you don’t want to plant edibles what with the paint and all. From SleepyHappy via Craftzine.
The husband has a nasty poison ivy rash all over his body. He’s all freaked out about it and he’s hiding down in Brooklyn until I get the situation under control in our Beacon backyard. I guess I’m not as sensitive to it as I didn’t break out. So I got stuck with the dirty work.
I spent a large part of the day yesterday dealing with this while I should have been working. I pulled up the leaves (more on that in a sec), washed the dogs and all the bedding. I drew the line at washing all six cats by myself.
Last year I went out there with long pants and a pair of gloves and just pulled the bastards up. I thought I’d take more precautions this time, so I researched it a bit.
Here are a few handy tips:
The leaves have different variations, making them more difficult to identify. They can be short growth or long vines. Always three though!
The roots have the highest concentration of the poison. You should dig down and make sure to get it all. I couldn’t be bothered, so mine will be back next year. Or later this season.
Make sure to carefully clean your gloves, shoes and clothes afterward. I just used old painting clothes that were ready for the trash and threw them out.
Wait to use soap and water until after cleansing with vinegar or rubbing alcohol first. Oops.
Don’t rip out the vines as this can release the toxins. Use a pruner.
Never compost or burn poison ivy! The smoke can cause damage to your lungs. In fact, wearing a mask is recommended while removing the leaves, but I thought that was overkill. That and the goggles.
Spray herbicide on the batch (oops) and throw in trash.
Ok, I was fine until I wrote this. Now I’m feeling itchy.
PoisonIvy.org Check out the skin rash hall of fame. You won’t be sorry!