July 26, 2010
 

Lifestyle

Lifestyle Green Tips

Find it, gift it!

By Hilary Nelson

Want to really enjoy the holidays this year while saving money and fighting climate change simultaneously? Make your own gifts. I know, I know; you're thinking: Is she crazy? It's hectic enough around the holidays! Who has time to make presents? Well - you do. Start by saying no to the hours spent stringing electricity-guzzling lights from your gutters and chimney and downsize to a front-door wreath lit by solar-powered LEDs. Next, try shutting off the television and closing down the computer for a while.

Get rid of fleas and ticks safely

For a safer flea and tick repellent, try scattering pine needles, fennel, rue or rosemary on your pet’s bed. Or feed your pet brewer’s yeast, vitamin B or garlic tablets.

One mission at a time!

It’s really easy to beat yourself up when you’re trying to do the right thing. Instead of feeling good about yourself for helping in small ways, you look around you and feel overwhelmed with how much there is to do – or not do. And panic.

Don’t go down that road: Nothing good comes of it, and you might even end up giving up, which would be way too bad.

When pets go . . .

Says Planet Green: “Scoop up your doggie doo in biodegradable poop bags so your buddy’s No. 2 isn’t immortalized in a plastic bag, while deep-sixed in a landfill somewhere for hundreds of years.” And for cats, Planet Green recommends this: “Owners should avoid clumping clay litter at all costs. Not only is clay strip-mined (bad for the planet), but the clay sediment is also permeated with carcinogenic silica dust that can coat little kitty lungs (bad for the cat).

Give your pet food a makeover

Says Planet Green: “Most conventional pet-food brands you find at the supermarket consist of reconstituted animal by-products, otherwise known as low-grade wastes from the beef and poultry industries – you know, inedibles you wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot fork. . . . Natural and organic pet foods use meats that are raised in sustainable, humane ways without added drugs or hormones, minimally processed, and preserved with natural substances, such as vitamins C and E.

Lifestyle Green Community

Green Burial - the final recycling effort

As we become more conscious of human impact on the planet, we continue to discover new ways to reduce, recycle and reuse. Yet we avoid thinking and planning for environmentally responsible disposition of our bodies. Our culture combines our fear of death with our belief that how much we spend signifies how much we love, resulting in expensive funeral decisions often made under duress.

Recycling Pickup Service

Do you want to recycle but live in a condo or own a business that doesn’t have recycling pickup? Contact us at iRecycle@hotmail.com and we will come pickup your recycling for you. We are currently servicing the Nashua area, with additional surrounding communities soon to come.

Pickup will be on Saturday mornings. Weekly, semi-monthly or monthly programs are available. There is a $2 pickup fee + $1 for each container of recyclables. Trash bags or cardboard boxes are acceptable containers. Please have your containers available for pickup by 9 am on Saturday morning.

life of a homeschooling pinch penny at xmas

its that time again, and looking at the tiny mound of silver in the savings jar, the trip to the mall is forgone.
all the saved washed pasta sauce jars from this year are lined up on the table and all the extra left over Easter baskets just raring to be useful!

COCOA
in a large bowl mix,
3 cups powdered baking cocoa
3 cups dry milk
1 1/2 cup sugar (Splenda ok)
2 teaspoons each cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice
sift all together and add a hand full of mini marchpillows (marshmellows)
spoon into as many jars as you wish, cap and set aside

BREAKFAST TREAT

Pollution Prevention – Raising the Bar Beyond Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

GREENWorks- Ideas for a Cleaner Environment
A publication of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Concord, NH

September 2009 - Pollution Prevention – Raising the Bar Beyond Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Can you help phase out NH Coal?

On Thursday September 3, you have a chance to tell the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NH DES) and Public Service Company of New Hampshire that you want to phase out the dirty coal plant at Merrimack Station in Bow and replace it with cleaner sources of electricity as soon as possible.

Can you attend a public hearing to help phase out NH Coal?

The dirty coal plant is the subject of a public hearing for an operating permit that is required under the US Clean Air Act (Title V permit). Public participation is one of the most important features of the Title V process.

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Green Guide 2009
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