Wanna feel good about yourself, feel like you’re making a difference? Go to your closet and take a good look at your collection of shoes. Getting a little out of whack?
Well, if you have some gently worn footwear that you know you’re not going to miss (and we’re sure you do!), round them up and drop them off during the Soles4Souls shoe drive being held in August.

By Katie Tothill

Anyone who has built a home knows the challenge of balancing energy efficiency and staying on budget. While it often seems like you must choose between the two, Preferred Building Systems of Claremont has found a way to satisfy both needs.

By Victoria Shouldis

John Snowdon will be the first one to tell you he has learned an awful lot from his bees. He has learned to take his time, slow down and focus on what interests him.
He has learned that a successful manager – whether that means the manager of a successful communications company or of a set of hives in a shady part of his backyard – brings in smart workers and then lets them do their thing, with as little interference from the manager as possible.

By Sarah Earle

The ingredients in your typical antiperspirant or deodorant can be pretty frightening: aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex (a possible contributor to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s), cyclopentasiloxane (which has also been linked to cancer and tagged by environmental groups for possible organ toxicity and endocrine disruption), propylene glycol (a suspected carcinogenic), and the list goes on.

By Melanie Plenda

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust are taking on literal translations for some local funeral providers.
Though it hasn’t taken off with great gusto in the state, slowly but surely, more funeral homes are offering “green” burials.

Thirteen-year-old Molly Tucker plucked two sugar snap peas from the vine and munched the thinner pod before biting into the plump one. Both tasted great, she decided, but the bigger one was less stringy, and a bit juicier.

In case you were starting to lose your way on this green journey, a new report has been issued to reaffirm the importance of consuming local food. So, put the shopping cart full of plastic bags and guilty convenience back where you got it, check this out and head back out to your local farmers market:

The report, “Home Grown,” released recently from Food Solutions New England, a University of New Hampshire-based initiative linking farm, food and nutrition issues, finds that the local food system in New Hampshire is a $3.3 billion industry that employs 81,000 people statewide.

You've got till Monday (May 3) to order your New Hampshire-raised, disease-free rainbow or brook trout from the Merrimack County Conservation District to stock your pond with. Pick-up will be Saturday, May 8, between 1 and 1:30 p.m. at the MCCD office in Concord for 6-8 inch trout. The 10- to 12-inch trout will be delivered directly to your pond. Contact MCCD at 223-6023 or visit the website www.MerrimackCCD.org for details.

Never been a better time to junk that fridge or freezer and upgrade to something from the 21st century (i.e. something that doesn’t use 3 times the electricity). Nhsaves is offering free recycling and a $30 reward for turning in the suspects. Plus free pickup. Offer ends June 30!
Call 877-545-4113 or visit www.nhsaves.com to schedule that pickup.

The Northeast Sustainability Energy Association aims to build the knowledge of professionals with in-depth, professionally accredited workshops on a wide range of critical topics. NESEA is committed to advancing three core elements: sustainable solutions, proven results and cutting-edge development in the field. Each workshop is AIA accredited.

• Nuts and Bolts of Building Performance: Designing for energy efficiency and endurance, with Paul Malko and Pat Nangle - June 4 at the Foard Panel, 53 Stow Drive, West Chesterfield from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

As part of its “Green Living Series,” Concord’s Red River Theatres has covered a range of topics from green building construction to the ways we use electricity. Since last April, eight films have been screened as part of the series, starting with Clothesline – a 30-minute documentary about the benefits of air-drying laundry.

Why not take that great feeling you get from dropping off all those plastic bottles for recycling and double it by dressing yourself in clothes made from those bottles?
Not only can you get that good feeling from lessening the amount of waste on this earth, you can rest assured that you’re doing your small part to lessen the work in sweatshops across the world.