My daughter Juliet took a trip to Stratford Canada recently with her school. She noticed these recycling bins everywhere. Why is it that so many other countries are doing these kinds of things and here in the States we seem to think that recycling is something just for the "environmentalist wackos"? For being so "advanced" we sure are "behind"!

Greenwashing

Greenwashing... what is it?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greenwash (a portmanteau of green and whitewash) is a term used to describe the perception of consumers that they are being misled by a company regarding the environmental practices of the company or the environmental benefits of a product or service.[1] The term Green sheen has similarly been used to describe organizations which attempt to appear that they are adopting practices beneficial to the environment.[2]

I agree with that definition.

Curious if the company's claims are actually true? Check out these websites for more information on Greenwashing.

http://www.greenwashing.net/
http://www.greenwashingindex.com/
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/sustainability/greenwash/

Something to crow about...

Chickens in the city limits?! Yes, it's true.

"Welcome to Mad City Chickens In the Spring of 2004, Madison, WI passed a law allowing single-family homes the right to raise poultry in the back yard. Previous to this law, poultry was allowed inside the home, but not outside. Coops were not permitted, nor was raising poultry inside the garage. Today it is legal to have 4 hens (no roosters) in a coop, no closer than 25' from the nearest neighbors living quarters. Butchering within the city limits is still not allowed."

Now you know you want to read the rest of the story....http://madcitychickens.com/

What to do with your STUFF

Have stuff you want to get rid of but just aren't sure where to dispose of it? Here are two websites that will really help you dejunk without filling up the landfill.


http://www.throwplace.com/ Give away goods to others. Everything listed on Throwplace is FREE.

www.freecycle.org Network to promote waste reduction and help save landscape from being taken over by landfills.

Know of more sites like these? Tell me about them.

STUFF!

The Story of Stuff is a great little video story to watch. It makes you think about what is all this stuff? Where did it come from? Where does it go? Why do we have so much STUFF??!!

It is definitely worth spending about 20 minutes to watch. Let me know what you think.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

CoHousing

The South Bend Tribune just featured an Assocated Press Article about a a New Hampshire community called Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm which is a cohousing community. The concept was new to me, but I'm finding it very interesting!

http://southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080711/LIVES/945985023

Check out these sites for more information.

http://www.peterboroughcohousing.org/
http://www.cohousing.org/
http://www.usgbc.org/

Sassier Shade of Green

I love this site! Subscribe to the daily tip and be prepared for useful, down-to-earth information and links. I learn something everyday. I especially like the little tidbits of trivia on the left hand side of the daily e-mail. This is one of those daily e-mails that I have a hard time deleting because it has so much useful information that I'm just sure I will want to access again.

http://www.idealbite.com/