1. Diapers: …and not just the cloth ones. Did you know that, on average, a baby will go through about six thousand diapers before they’re potty trained? Well, a company called ‘Knowaste’ makes disposable diapers that can be recycled.
2. Soap: That’s right — soap! A non profit organization called ‘Clean the World’ collects leftover soap and shampoo from hotels and donates it to those in need.
3. Caskets: This one nearly blew my mind yesterday and, you know, I don’t know why cause you’d think this was a no-brainer: Why not be buried in something that will easily biodegrade or is made from recycled materials? Seems silly not too, but I suppose that’s just my opinion. And besides being eco-friendly, it’s also much less expensive, too!
4. Running shoes: I am a big gym-goer so I own several pairs of running shoes, cross trainers, ones with shock absorbtion, etc. When you’re done with running shoes that are still in relatively good shape, they can be donated to the less fortunate. But the thing is, for me anyway, they’re so incredibly pricey that you can be sure that I use them until they can no longer be worn. The good news is, they can still be made into building materials. Check out RecycledRunners.com to find out where you can bring your old runners.

Uh oh! Looks like my time outside yesterday left me sunburnt — entirely my fault, of course, as I didn’t update my sunscreen application as the day went on. So now here I am with hideous white stripes on my back where my tank top was and bright red patches everywhere else the sun hit. I partially blame the unusually nice weather in mid September for my screw up. Shouldn’t it be Fall right now? I haven’t even broken out my sweaters yet.

Don’t have an aloe plant? Here are some other around-the-house tips for treating a sunburn without having to invest in nasty chemicals or lotions. They worked very well for me, try them out yourself!

• Use honey as a salve — put a healthy smear of it onto the burnt areas. It apparently helps ease the pain and helps to encourage the healing process.
• Liquify some potatoes. I know, sounds weird, right? But potato paste can be applied to the sunburn and when it dries, it sucks all the excess moisture (what’s keeping it hot and burning) out of your skin.

These more eco-friendly ways to treat a sunburn have the added benefit of having great odds of being in your home just when you need them. I don’t always have pain killers or burn spray in my medicine cabinet, but 99% of the time I have potatoes!

Alright, alright — you got me. It’s not Cinco de Mayo, but can’t we pretend?

The weather’s getting colder and soon there’ll be… *brace yourself* …snow on the ground.

With the long weekend finally here, why don’t you get in one last hurrah with this tasty organic Margarita recipe?

Ingredients:

• 3oz of 4 Copas 100% Agave Organic Tequila
• 2oz of freshly squeezed organic lime juice
• 1oz of simple agave syrup
• Topped with some organic sugar and kosher salt for the rim

Method:

1. Prechill your glasses.
2. To make the simple syrup add:1 part agave nectar,1 part organic sugar &1 part water to a sauce pan and cook & stir over low heat until the sugar is disolved.
3. Next fill your coctail shaker with the tequila, lime juice, syrup and ice and shake unitl until mixed and cool.
4. Mix up 2 parts salt and 1 part sugar and put it in a dish.
5. Now dip the rim of your chilled glass in the sugar/salt mix, it should stick. **Make sure you do this before you fill your glass with Margarita. Don’t ask
6. Now strain the Margarita into your glass and enjoy!

The Nature Conservancy has just published a kind of calculator that crunches numbers and calculates percentages to figure out exactly how global warming will affect you.

The ClimateWizard is the first of its kind, giving people access to statistics and information that while having been readily available for a long time, is hard to read and understand. The ClimateWizard looks to facilitate that.

“The state-by-state, country-by-country temperature projections are part of a new tool called Climate Wizard that allows people to use an interactive map to explore past and projected climate change data on their computers,” The Nature Conservancy states in its press release. “With Climate Wizard, users can zoom in on any location to quickly see how temperatures and precipitation may change by month, season or year under different emission scenarios.”

Read more here

The green socioverse has recently coined a new term — ‘precycling’ — but what does it really mean? Pre-recycling, right? Like… using a product? Before… cycling? The sci-fi mind in me goes into questions involving recycling, time and space, and DeLoreans.

But I’m crazy.

The real meaning behind precycling is much more forward thinking — towards waste reduction and making packaging that’s easier to recycle when the time comes. Precycling!

How can we precycle? Purchase products in bulk to reduce packaging, re-filling water bottles, re-using coffee containers to store things, etc.), canvas shopping bags, online flyers and catalogues instead of paper ones — say no to junk mail!

And now you we know!

This is definitely something I would have up in my home. In fact, I’m considering the possibility right now while staring distainfully at my current crappy-plastic/glass and wood 1970’s era chandelier.

What a genius idea for recycling old wine bottles! And believe it or not, this one right here is from Pottery Barn.

I think that personally I’d prefer one solid colour — ie. all green bottles — but I bet you could find some really cool coloured bottles out there. Though, you’d have to drink all the wine before you could hang up the bottles. But that’s nothing that a big wine and cheese party at your house couldn’t solve, right?

And what’s better for that wine and cheese party than cheese platers made out of flattened wine bottles? Brilliant.

I know, I know — the title makes it sound a little alarmist. Like your garbage can will become a ticking time bomb or the garbage bags will transform into monsters at the curb… but that’s definitely not what I mean. (But that would make oatmeal pretty cool, wouldn’t it?)

The Daily Green has posted an article discussing 12 Surprising Uses for Leftover Oatmeal — and it really is surprising!

My favourites include:

• Odor absorbtion – put a container in your fridge! Line your ashtrays (yes, really – ha!)
• 1 cup of milk, 2 cups of uncooked oatmeal and a tablespoon of honey in a luke warm bath apparently works to moisturize and rejuvenate your skin! (And you’d look like my breakfast.)
• Non-toxic crafting clay!

Check out the website for more cool oatmeal uses.

I’m all about saving water. Why wouldn’t I be? To date, though, I had not been able to find an eco shower head that didn’t dramatically reduce the quality of my shower — ie. the precious, precious water pressure.

This shower head — the Oxygenics’ Storm — I will tell you, is absolutely amazing. I can’t tell you how much it’s saving me exactly as I’ve not had it long enough, but I will tell you that it’s probably significant.

One thing I enjoy, though I’m not sure it’s a selling point for everyone, is the sound of this shower head. It really does sound like a rain storm! It’s loud, but I like it. And it feels great – which is the important part.

Check it out!

I’d like to add that I’m in absolutely no way affiliated with these guys and am not getting a cut for mentioning them by any means (heh, but hey – Oxygenics, I’m spreading the word, show me some love?). I just wanted to blog about how awesome my showerhead is and well, it just so happens it’s quite eco friendly and fits perfectly on this site!

Know of some other energy-saving shower heads? Tell me all about them in the comments!

Forget pesticides! It’s not hard to have a beautiful pesticide-free lawn, all you need is a bit of time and a little elbow grease.

• Did you know that grass actually grows best when certain kinds of organisms are present? Forget shooing them off (she says politely, knowing full well that pesticides do much more than shoo…), let them play! Earthworms eat and recycle (heh, poop) plant material that releases nutrients into the roots of the grass helping it grow! (via)
• Mow your lawn at the high end of its range — that way the roots have a chance to really develop. Deeper root systems can tolerate drought, heat, shade, disease, and pests much better. (via)
• Leave the grass clippings on your lawn! I know, I know — you don’t like how it looks, right? But trust me, it adds plant nutrients and organic matter to your soil. Researchers have estimated that grasscycling reduces fertilizer need by 25%! Saves you money and effort and keeps grass clippings out of landfills too. (via here and here)
• Don’t overwater — I mean, not only is it a huge waste of water (this is a personal pet peeve of mine) but overwatering helps weeds grow, causes oxygen starvation of grass roots, and makes your lawn’s roots shallow. Eep! Here’s a hint: If the top two inches of your lawn are dry, then it’s time to water. If not, leave it alone! (via)

According to the University of California’s integrated pest management program, “A vigorously growing turf resists pest damage and weed invasion.” So keep it growing healthy and strong and you shouldn’t have any need for pesticides!

While cruising around the Captain Planet Foundation website (yeah, alright you caught me. I was reading up on my favourite eco hero), I discovered a link to watch entire episodes of Captain Planet and The Planeteers online!

And it’s not the seedy online that we’re all used to (well, not me… of course. Pfft. Like I would watch streaming television on the internet. That would be questionably legal, now wouldn’t it.) Mother Nature Network is hosting the videos for free in hopes that it will educate and entertain viewers.

For the next 12 months, MNN will unveil more than 20 episodes of Captain Planet and The Planeteers as well as never-before-seen bonus footage.

Check it out!

The last time I wrote about Captain Planet, BambiGoesGreen nearly quadrupled in readership — clearly people love Captain Planet! Spread this around, let people know that they can induldge themselves in a bit of free, streaming eco hero!