Going green is a fun process, actually. I’m learning a lot about things that I didn’t even know existed before I started! And, as with this story, sometimes it’s the little things that really blow my mind — like Muichic jewelry! I know I’m new at all this but… they can make ivory out of nuts? Why on earth would we kill animals (elephants, hippos, narwhals, walrus, etc.) for it then?

I wear a lot of jewelry, myself, but I’ll tell you — I don’t wear ivory. Not before this going green experiment and I certainly won’t now after reading about this botanical alternative:

The jewelry, made in Colombia by hand, is made from tagua nuts — specifically the seeds of the tagua palm trees. Doesn’t it look just like real ivory? It’s a great reason to conserve the tropical rainforests of South America for those interested making money as it’s just as sustainable as clear cutting to make room for grazing cattle. And why wouldn’t you take this over real ivory? It’s almost impossible to tell the difference — not to mention a much more reasonable way to acheive the ivory ‘look’ without causing so much destruction and death.

Check out their website right here for more details.

I stumbled on to pictures of cob houses on TreeHugger this morning and now I can’t stop reading up on them!

I’ve decided now that someday I will have one of these. Imagine that — from not-so-green to wanting to live in a cob house in no time at all. Now that’s progress.

Cob houses, for those who don’t know, have nothing to do with corn. Sure, you might have known that, but when I first started reading about them I figured there had to be some corn cobs in there somewhere. Where else have you heard the word cob? Cob is actually a building material made from clay, sand, straw, water, and earth — very similar to adobe. It’s fireproof, resistant to seismic activity and – best of all – quite inexpensive. This one here, for example (see photo) was build for under $3000!

The houses I’ve found online are absolutely beautiful! (Check out my favourites here, here, and here.)

I’m definitely becoming a fan of sustainable, natural development. Not just because it looks beautiful, but because I really admire the hard work, time, and enthusiasm one needs to use the environment around them to build something so worthwhile!

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!

Putting pesicides on your lawn is bad because… pesticides are bad, right? I’ve known this for a long time because I remember seeing a ‘Keep off the Lawn!” pesticides warning on a neighbours lawn and asking my mother about it. All she could tell me, really, was that pesticides were poison. I remember being quite confused as to how pesticides could hurt me but not the plants/grass. Well, here’s some interesting little bit sized facts about lawn pesticides:

• Children who live in homes where lawn pesticides are used are twice as likely to develop brain cancer than children with pesticide-free yards. (via)
• People who work with pesticides (including pesticides used on lawns and in gardens) have an increased risk of fertility problems, such as an increase in spontaneous abortion and miscarriage as well as increased risk of having a baby with birth defects (such as cleft lip and palate, spina bifida, limb anomalies). (via)
• Workers exposed over a long period to pesticides have shown problems with information (ie. confusion) and have increased risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease.(via)
• In the womb and into early infancy is linked to increased risks of some cancers (particularly leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and neuroblastoma) and birth defects. (via)

So if all these terrible things are possible with pesticide use, why on earth do people use them? Is having a healthy lawn worth all the poison and risk?

Stay tuned to BambiGoesGreen for tips on how to keep your lawn healthy and happy naturally!

Seriously. How could I have forgotten WALL-E in yesterdays trip down memory lane? He’s my favourite of them all!  He’s got a lot of winning things on his side — namely, he’s a robot. Robots are an automatic win with me, for future reference.

For those of you who did not see the 2008 Pixar film, WALL-E is the story of a robot (named WALL-E, of course) who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future. He eventually falls in love with another robot named EVE, and follows her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his kind and humanity.

Apart from the super adorable characters and hilarious moments, I really loved that this movie had a moral without being at all preachy — it wasn’t in your face like some other kid-targeted movies that shall remain nameless… *cough* Happy Feet *cough cough* Spy Kids *choke*

While the story’s major theme is about irrational love defeats life’s programming, its eco themes are unmistakable. I commend the film for speaking to people of all ages and backgrounds about some of the more serious environmental issues such as pollution and the destruction of wildlife habitats.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out this fantastic movie, I highly recommend you do so!

Now, unlike Captain Planet, I did actually watch this show. I remember being quite concerned about the size of the characters heads… but that’s not the point. The point is that many children, myself included, learned some very valuable lessons about the earth and the environment — most specifically pollution — from the Smoggies and the Suntots.

This Canadian cartoon (woo! Go Canada!) began airing in 1988 but didn’t make it’s way to the US until 1994 (under the name “Stop The Smoggies”).

Almost every episode had the environmentalist Suntots outsmart the Smoggies in their latest scheme (usually involving dumping oil into the river or turning their smoke stacks on high and pumping out thick, black smoke), after which the Smoggies invariably hatched another scheme.

A recurring theme in the episodes is the Smoggies attempt to steal the island’s ‘magic coral’ (which they believe grants eternal youth), or find some alternative way to maintain youth. The show often implied that the magic coral did not actually exist, however, and were just manifestations of the Smoggies’ (mainly Emma Smoggie’s) greed and vanity.

Looking back on this now, I’m not sure how I ever kept these plots straight as a kid — I’m confused now! But apparently it was affective because admittedly, most of what I know about coral and water pollution comes from this very show.

This is a subject that has fascinated me since I was a small child. I remember seeing pictures of those big, beautiful windmills in fields and thinking ‘Someday when I have a house of my own, I want one of those!’ — of course, at that point I had no idea what the practical uses for them were, but I did know that they were pretty. Nowadays, while I’m pretty confident that I know what they are, I’m not entirely sure how they work — how do they harness the wind? DO they harness the wind? Let’s find out! Read the rest of this entry

Baby wipes are mostly made of polyester, even some of the supposedly ‘eco’ ones…

Which means they’ll probably still be sitting in landfill sites when giant cockroaches take over the earth.

Will cockroaches use baby wipes? Hrmmm.

Here’s how to make your own decomposable wipes. They happen to work out a bunch cheaper than the other kind too, so you know, win-win.

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“I remember writing Earth Song when I was in Austria, in a hotel. And I was feeling so much pain and so much suffering of the plight of the Planet Earth. And for me, this is Earth’s Song, because I think nature is trying so hard to compensate for man’s mismanagement of the Earth. And with the ecological unbalance going on, and a lot of the problems in the environment, I think earth feels the pain, and she has wounds, and it’s about some of the joys of the planet as well. But this is my chance to pretty much let people hear the voice of the planet. And this is “Earth Song.” And that’s what inspired it. And it just suddenly dropped into my lap when I was on tour in Austria.”

I’d like to take a moment to be very personal with you, my readers.

This is the world’s first solar car (1960) – powered by a ten thousand cell panel on the roof.

I love that the license plate reads:  ‘California / Horseless Carriage / 2103′.

And this line: “It’s a significant point that every day as much energy falls on the earth from the sun as has been used in the whole history of our civilization!”

One of the men seen could be Dr Charles Escoffery, a scientist and pioneer in solar energy, who brought the car over from the United States.

Lookit the size of that walkie talkie!

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