Green Patchwork

Last month I wrote a post about the Alberta tar sands which currently is providing the U.S. with 16% of their oil imports. I found another article on the topic in OnEarth magazine and what I read gives me a feeling of great sadness. Canadians are destroying a forest the size of Florida and creating a toxic wasteland that is unsafe for wildlife and will continue to emit greenhouse gases for a temporary oil fix. Read the article “Canada’s Highway to Hell”.

I was just looking around online as usual when I found an interesting post at The Labratory and it’s titled “Robin Day on Good Design”. I think he has offered us something to think about and take to heart.

Many years ago I decided to wrap all of my X-mas gifts in decorative scarves and fabrics, and I was thought of as an extreme environmentalist. But now if I wrap a gift in fabric or a fancy silk scarf most people appreciate the extra attention to their gift and think i’m being creative (and not just a crazy hippie).

I love receiving gifts wrapped in unique fabrics and luckily the trend has picked up speed. I was just browsing the Inhabitat site and found a posting on silk scarves being sold as something to wrap gifts in, similar to a furoshiki. I hope you don’t start thinking you have to only use fancy silk scarves as wrapping material, because you can use any interesting fabric that you find to wrap a gift. Check out thrift stores or buy a yard of fabric at the craft stores to use for wrapping a present. Handkerchiefs and bandannas work great too and are always appreciated when someone catches a cold.

I would like to know how all of you define “green” as. There seem to be many opinions and ideas about the matter, but I would like to know what you think about it. I would appreciate your thoughts and words on the topic, and it would help me a out a bit with a school project too. Thanks.

I’ve been wanting to write about one of Madison’s hippest group of people who make up the Underground Food Collective. This group of 5 plus some caters parties and serves up some pretty mean breakfasts at the Saturday Farmer’s Market using seasonal foods and sustainable meats. If you’re lookin’ to find a catering crew that is creative, unique, and willing to cook in a non-traditional kitchen then look no further.

When I discovered the website Free Rice I couldn’t get away from it! Free Rice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com. Their goal is to help people build their English vocabulary for free and help end world hunger by providing rice to  hungry people for free.

Go to the site and test your vocab knowledge. If you can’t stop earning rice it’s your own fault! You’ll understand what I’m talking about when you go to the site.

Check the number on the bottom of your plastic drinking bottle the next time you drink from it. Chances are you will see #7 on the bottom. If that is the case then read this article from National Geographic, simply titled Plastic Containers. Much of the plastic we use leaches toxins into our food and drink, but if you are aware of the types of plastics on the market you can steer clear of those horrible nasty chemicals. I gave my Nalgene bottles away when I found out they were possibly leaching chemicals into my water, and replaced them with food-grade stainless steel bottles. I never get that plastic taste in my water anymore either.

Check out this link for alternatives to plastic bottles, they carry many sizes and styles for your drinking water needs.

Did you ever think you would be able to purchase a laptop with bamboo paneling? Me neither, but someone sent me the link to Asus’ new EcoBook. You gotta see it to believe it.

Also, Greenpeace has put out a guide to green electronics- see how yours compares to others. Electronics have become part of our daily lives and even though they are not eco-friendly we buy them anyway. I’m glad to see companies are listening to consumer demands and are making the effort to lessen their environmental impact.

For those of you that live in Madison or surrounding areas you may be familiar with the monthly free newspaper Sustainable Times. Every month they offer articles on various topics, such as organic gardening, herbal remedies, home canning, brewing your own beer, or seasonal fruit and vegetable recipes. We read the paper every month and find the resources helpful and the advertisements useful. Jonah found his massage therapist in the paper and L’Etoile’s ad gave him the good idea of taking me out to dinner last week! Thanks Sustainable Times!

Their newspaper is free and is printed monthly. You can find the newspaper at the libraries, Willy St Co-op, Whole Foods, and probably most other places downtown. The link I attached is to their new improved website and access to their online current edition.

Last semester I took a course called History of Textiles where we studied civilizations’ earliest textiles from around the world. By the end of the semester we were looking at textile technologies and how textiles are being used in medicine, architecture, and contemporary art. We watched a video on these technologies where scientists in Europe were working on encapsulating fragrances, body lotions, or medicines into clothing fabrics. The capsules would be activated by the body’s heat and wear and the wearer would receive whatever was encapsulated. (more…)