What should you do if you find a baby deer? Nothing!

I recently visited a famous New Hampshire tourist destination and was surprised to see several large signs saying “The fox families in this area are wild animals. Please do not approach them.” I am amazed that people have to be told things like this. Is the average person really so divorced from nature that we now approach the entire planet as though it were a zoo, stocked with not-quite-wild animals on display just for our viewing pleasure?

My drive to work takes me past a riverside soccer field where a flock of Canada made their home. Every morning I would watch their family progress, as the eggs hatched and the fuzzy goslings grew into awkward teenaged geese. Then one morning they were all gone. I read in the newspaper that they had been “culled”, which is wildlife management speak for rounded up and killed. Why? For daring to poop on private property! The land owners had tried to discourage the geese, but other folks were feeding them, and the desire for food won out over the deterrent measures; eventually the geese were officially deemed a nuisance and removed. I’m sure that the folks feeding the geese meant no harm, but they really were to blame.

There’s an old saying in the North Country: “A fed bear is a dead bear”.  People who feed bears, either accidentally by leaving bird feeders in easy reach, or on purpose, do the bears a terrible disservice. Bears are intelligent and they have good memories; once they have gotten used to easy handout meals they tend to stay around and give up the tedious work of foraging naturally. They also lose their natural fear of humans, coming closer and staying around the food source more and more. Eventually they move on to helping themselves, in some cases entering cars or buildings in search of even more of that delicious human food. At that point the bear, having done property damage, is officially deemed a nuisance, and is done away with.

Every spring my local Fish and Game officials are faced with well-meaning people who found what they thought was an abandoned baby deer. They do not understand that deer will leave their fawns to nap in a safe spot while mom goes to eat. The fawn’s only defense is to stay still and wait for its mother to come back to get it. When a person approaches, the fawn will follow its instincts and lie still; if the person removes the fawn, the chances of ever reuniting it with its mother are slim, and most are euthanized. 

People need to understand that wildlife is just that, wild. If animals’ lives sometimes intersect with ours, that should be a pleasure and a privilege. Humans need to learn to enjoy wildlife without interfering with it; our attempts to be “helpful “go astray far too often, and the animal usually loses. In most cases the animals were there first, and it is up to the humans to educate ourselves to do the right thing, which, 99% of the time, is to quietly watch from a respectful distance, and nothing more. Appreciation is not the same as manipulation. Humans are supposed to be the most intelligent animal species – let’s prove it.

After you mow the lawn and are left with that thick layer of grass instead of raking it up and throwing it out, pile it into a big heap and start a compost mountain. Throw your leaf piles into this mountain and sticks and any other yard debris. After pruning your bushes and trees throw the remnants into the compost pile. Turn the contents of this pile every week or so to mix the ingredients which will ultimately turn into great soil for your garden!

You can also use the cut grass and leaves to put around your trees and bushes as mulch. This is a great economical way to protect your trees and bushes and provide nourishment to them. It doesn’t look half bad either.

We just finished planting our garden and are waiting for the fruits of our labor to grow. The bugs are coming out of the cracks and crevices to eat away at our veggies and herbs and we must protect our plants with an environmentally sound product. One such product is Diatomaceous earth. Diatomaceous earth is fossilized remains of diatoms which is a type of algae. This insecticide is non-toxic and will not harm the environment. You can pick up a bag at your local Lowe’s Home Improvement store. It is a bit pricey however you do not need to use much of it. Spray your plants with a mixture of soap and water and sprinkle the powder over your plants. Repeat these steps each week and/or after a heavy rain.

What about those pesky weeds that continue to pop up even after you have taken the time to put down the weed cover? Vinegar works well and/or a mixture of red pepper seeds and water. The capsaicin in the peppers kills the weeds. Spray generously on the weeds.

This time of year is a great time to go outside to take care of your yards and gardens just remember to always think of alternative ways to use the waste you create! Have a great summer! 

The second of the three-pronged mantra, “reduce, reuse, recycle” has stolen center stage of today’s entry. While reducing is undoubtedly the most immediate action we can have on lessening our impact upon the earth, reusing is something everyone can do, regardless of age, gender, socio-economic status or level of environmental education. Without a doubt reusing will save you money, help spur creativity and possibly benefit charity. The decision to reuse will only be of detriment to large oil-dependent production companies and corporations (monsters from which I don’t mind withdrawing my support). [Please see Think Before you 'Bag It' for more information on the relations between oil/petroleum and various items filling your house.]

Here’s a challenge for the day: what can you reuse? Try this over the next week and withhold yourself from buying something new which you would have otherwise bought, be it a book, clothing, an appliance or accessory. See how far you can stretch your powers of brainstorming and creativity by seeing what you can reuse instead.

Prospects are endless..

Different ways to reuse a teabag

Ideas on reusing wine corks, stained tablecloths, etc.!

Other assorted ideas for reusing

& green living

This article was inspired by my mother’s choice on how to furnish her new home. Rather than going out to the nearest furniture-mart or Costco Wholesale, she chose an environmentally (and thus ethically) responsible path by finding furniture and other items at second-hand stores. In the end, she probably ended up with nicer furnishings than the new plastic-driven, landfill-bound “stuff” she would have purchased new. Second-hand stores usually carry an even wider variety of items than some department stores! When talking to a fashionista friend of mine living in New York City about reusing, she emphasized her fondness for thrifting and told me about the treasures she has totted to her closet to the tune of a dollar each. Some of the dresses, scarves and blouses she’s trove have been better quality and are more nicely tailored than anything sold in stores today!

For further critical thought on all of the “stuff” in our lives, please take 20 minutes to enlighten yourself and engage with Annie Leonard’s “Story of Stuff,” fully available online. Once you come to conceptualize the full effects and big-picture-cycle of our consumption habits, I hope you will truly give my REUSE challenge some thought. Leave your comments and results below to share with the community!
Best of luck and pure creativity to you!

 (If all else fails, go through your trash bin and make an art project out of it!)

…and don’t forget: first REDUCE, then REUSE, then RECYCLE!

Make those magazines and books work harder

According to the EPA, recycling paper instead of making it from new materials generates 74 percent less air pollution and uses 50 percent less water. Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power the average American home for five months! And paper is heavy, so a ton of it is not that much. Now, just imagine how you could magnify those positives by reusing paper before recycling it.

Libraries and their patrons are among the biggest unsung heroes of the environmental movement; they are the epitome of reuse. Although generally people think of books when they think of using the library, most public libraries also have a selection of popular magazines and newspapers to offer as well. Checking magazines out of the library is a great way to reuse paper, save money, and declutter your home all at the same time! If you have avoided this because you like to clip recipes or other items out of magazines, you might want to consider trying the library route and then doing your clipping virtually; many popular magazines now also have an online version, and you can save those clip-worthy recipes, photos, and articles electronically. If you haven’t been to your public library lately – or ever – now is the time! It’s good for the planet, a good learning experience for the kids, a major money saver, and a positive social environment.

Another option is to share a magazine subscription with a friend or coworker; you could each subscribe to a different magazine, and then swap copies each month, thus cutting your paper use in half.  Or better yet, consider putting a magazine swap bin out in the employee break room or some other public spot, or even in the lobby of a public location. Similarly, a swap shelf can be a great way to share novels, professional reading materials, or even trade up as your children’s reading taste matures.

What a great synergy – a way to help the environment that also saves you money and keeps your house neater. Reread!

Medicines that are put down a drain or flushed down the toilet wind up in water. How does this happen? Sewage treatment plants and septic systems are not designed or equipped to remove these products from the waste stream, so they become part of the effluent, or treated outflow, and end up in groundwater aquifers, rivers, or lakes.

Scientists are discovering a wide variety of biological abnormalities in aquatic organisms; many of these have been linked to the presence of hormones, antibiotics, and other drugs that find their way into the water. This is obviously a concern from an environmental standpoint, but it’s also personal, as our drinking water comes from these same aquifers and rivers. Protecting water protects us along with the fish and the frogs.

Waste-water treatment processes need to be improved to deal with the end products of medications that pass through our bodies, but that will take time and major infrastructure investments. In the meantime, consumers can avoid adding extra chemicals to the wastewater stream by not flushing medications.

So how should you dispose of those outdated drugs? In some areas pharmacies are implementing take-back programs, where drugs are disposed of in batches; why not call your local pharmacy and ask? If no disposal program is available in your area, you can do it yourself. First, remove medications from their prescription bottles. As desperate as it sounds, there are people who search dumpsters and landfills looking for drugs to ingest in search of a high; the color and shape of the bottles tends to make them stand out visually. Put the medicine in a plastic bag or alternate container, such as a yogurt container. If the medicine is in tablet or capsule form, first add just enough water to dissolve it. Then add an absorbent material to soak up the liquid and reduce the possibility of leaks. This absorber should also make the final mixture as unappetizing as possible: kitty litter, coffee grounds, or used tea bags are good possible choices. Then close or bag the container and put it in the trash. Remember, all the little things add up, so do your part and dispose of drugs properly.

One of the most common areas where we overuse resources at work is during mealtimes.  Plastic utensils and disposable dishes are ubiquitous, and most people don’t give them a second thought.  But if everyone in your office uses a plastic fork, a Styrofoam plate and a bottle of water or soda each day at lunch, think about how much landfill is generated in a month just from one person.  Multiply that by the number of people at your workplace, the number of businesses in your town, city or state and you’ll see how quickly it adds up.  It may take some extra planning and effort, but there are lots of ways to reduce the amount of trash we generate while eating meals at work:

• Bring reusable utensils with you in your lunch bag.  If you don’t want to bring your silverware from home, disposable flatware can be used over and over again!  I keep a stash at work, bring the used ones home each day and throw them in the dishwasher, and when they are clean they go into a bin in the kitchen.  When my work stash gets low, I just bring a handful with me in my lunch bag to restock.
• Bring your own reusable coffee mug and water bottle to work instead of using paper or Styrofoam cups.
• 100-calorie packs have become the latest convenience food craze, but the amount of packaging that goes into these snacks is overwhelming (not to mention that most of the foods are highly processed – but that’s another post entirely).  It’s so easy (and much cheaper) to make your own snack packs – when you buy a large bag of snacks, just divide them up into reusable containers and store them in the fridge or pantry.  You can grab some when you’re packing your lunch in the morning and bring the empties home to wash.  Just remember not to package them in throwaway plastic baggies!  And for those of you that don’t want to invest in lots of reusable containers, just look to your fridge – wash out those empty plastic takeout containers and tubs of cream cheese instead of recycling them and voila!  Free reusable containers in all shapes and sizes.
• Keep a reusable plate and bowl at work instead of using paper/Styrofoam – rinse them off after you eat and stash them in your desk drawer for next time.
• Bring home orange peels, banana peels or other compostable waste in your empty containers for your compost pile at home.

There are lots of ways to conserve resources at your desk:

• Rather than making copies, use the scanner and store documents electronically whenever possible.  Not only does this save paper, it keeps your desk more organized and reduces the need to archive documents.
• Print on double sided paper
• If a piece of paper is no longer needed, keep it and use the blank side as scrap
• Use shredded paper as packing material for shipping
• Keep a recycling bin under your desk for paper, plastic and metal
• Consider biodegradable writing utensils instead of the traditional plastic disposable pens: Grassroots pens are biodegradable and compostable, and Earthwrite pencils are made from recycled paper and reclaimed wood.
• Order your office supplies from green suppliers:  green earth office supply

And for those of you that love gadgets, laptop bags are now available with solar cells that can store enough charge to power a laptop: www.voltaicsystems.com

The most important thing to remember is that although recycling is great, it is much better to aim for reducing or reusing first.  In other words, just because you can recycle something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to maximize its useful life first.

You can effect change by modeling the behaviors you’d like to see – by following earth-friendly practices and answering questions when others ask you why you’re doing something, you can be the example that others want to follow.  And if you see environmentally unfriendly practices, or if you have ideas on how to improve, write to your CEO and make your ideas heard!