sustainability

Want to reduce your carbon footprint? How about saving some of that gas, meaning fuel!

As the redbud trees begin to blossom and the chickweed pops up a brighter green, I know spring is near and it’s just about time to start foraging the early spring edibles. Some of these wild plants can only be harvested while they’re young and tender, while others will continue to provide throughout the whole season and into the summer.

Young people are mobilizing to create healthier environmental futures. A packed conference held this February in San Francisco brought together hundreds of middle- and high-school students from nine Bay Area counties to discuss the climate change crisis. A large focus was on creating real transportation choices that minimize air pollution and promote strong families and communities. Young people discussed safe ways to bicycle, carpool, and take public transit.

Laundry can sometimes seem never ending. (Right, parents??) And yet, it is such a necessary process in our busy lives. Laundry machines make life so much easier; you throw the laundry in the washer, and it goes. It sings to you when it’s finished, and you switch the load to the dryer. Piece of cake.

But there’s another option.

I know it’s cliché, but the phrase “there are starving children in ____” is repeated over and over with good intentions. There are starving children everywhere, but your momma was just trying to help teach you a lesson about being grateful for what you have. It’s impossible for some kids to appreciate food security simply because they have not experienced it; not everyone always has food waiting for them on a dinner plate like many of us do.

We are living in a time when industrialization is the norm, traffic is just a part of the day, and buying what we need instead of making it is totally acceptable. Light pollution can often blur day and night, and affect the natural processes of the world. . Light pollution is the artificial light that shines upwards and downwards, creating a skyglow which fades out the stars from above and also disorientating wildlife and insects down below.

Not long ago, I was digging through my cupboards looking for some protein to add to a meal. I came across a can of black-eyed peas and thought I was in luck—that is, until I saw the expiration date. Two years ago! Instinctively, I reached to put the can in the trash.

But wait. Isn’t canned food supposed to last forever?

Did you know that maple trees are not the only trees that provide us with the sap necessary to make syrup? There are several different trees that produce a sap sweet and sticky enough to make delicious syrups and sugars. The sugar maple is one of the most well known and most common trees tapped because it has the highest sugar content –  which is key to a fine syrup.

Maybe you’ve seen algae at a local pond, or returned home after a trip to find your pool teeming with green growth. Perhaps you’ve walked down the aisle of a health food store and seen the bottles and packages of spirulina, chlorella and other green powders, or heard that algae is coming to fuel your life–from your body, to your vehicle. Algae cultivation actually has its own name–algaculture–and while thousands of types of algae exist, the majority of algae being grown commercially is microalgae.

Seed paper is more than just fun to make: It's eco-friendly. It's a great way to give back to the earth. After all, paper is made from trees. It seems only right to return paper to the earth so it can grow new life again. The best part about making seed paper? It's relatively easy.