Eco-Tip Tuesday: Compost Happens

by Dawn Gifford on March 30, 2010

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Now that it’s spring, it’s a great time to open up your compost bin and use some of the humus you made last autumn to fertilize your trees, shrubs and garden beds this season. And if you don’t have a compost pile, Spring is also a great time to start one! Read More >>

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Eco-Tip Tuesday: Reduce, Reuse, Then Recycle

by Dawn Gifford on March 23, 2010

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There is a reason that recycling comes last in the often-repeated maxim of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” That is where it should be: a last resort. Recycling is what we do with something when we have exhausted all opportunities to redesign the product to be more durable, to reuse or repair it, or to simply do without it altogether. As a last resort, recycling is better than landfill or incineration for sure. But we shouldn’t believe for a second that recycling will turn things around environmentally. Read More >>

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Eco-Tip Tuesday: Recipes for a Green Clean

March 15, 2010
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Approximately 85,000 chemicals are in use today. According to the Breast Cancer Fund, complete toxicological screening data is available for only 7% of these chemicals, and more than 90% have never been tested for their effects on human health.

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Eco-Tip Tuesday: Message in a Bottle

March 10, 2010
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I guess I thought that using a reusable bottle was as common as recycling at this point, but as I watched dozens of people roll out of Target with discounted cases of bottled water this past weekend, I discovered that perhaps the message has clearly not reached everyone.
Did you know that approximately 1.5 million barrels [...]

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Eco-Tip Tuesday: Get Caught Holding the Bag

March 1, 2010
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Washington, D.C. recently passed a bag tax wherein retailers citywide charge $.05 for each plastic or paper shopping bag you require. More and more cities are passing similar legislation against disposable shopping bags, particularly because it is increasingly common for U.S. seashores and riverbanks to look like the one above—especially after a storm.

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Eco-Tip Tuesday: Please (Don’t) Stand By

February 22, 2010
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You may not know that your appliances—cell phone chargers, desktop computers, computer monitors, printers, televisions, DVD players, microwaves, coffee makers, and more—drain energy anytime they’re plugged into a socket, regardless of whether they’re turned on or off. And many electronics, like your plasma TV, don’t actually go all the way off—they continue using “standby power.” [...]

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