What's wrong with this picture?

If you guessed "it says no parking on the no outlet street, so what is that space even used for?" you are correct! If you aren't going to allow parking on the "street", at least rip up the pavement and create a green space. Any other suggestions?

Don't throw out those magazines!

Just because your neighborhood recycling program doesn't take glossy items [or maybe they do!], doesn't mean you should throw out your magazines.

• If you've ever noticed the schools or churches near you have yellow and green dumpsters, they're not for trash, they are for recycling and anyone can use them! Check out Paper Retriever to see if there is a bin near you. They accept magazines along with newspapers and catalogs. Check this page to see what additional items the bins near you accept.

• Your local library may take some magazines as long as they are in good quality. Call your library first before you haul off a years supply to Rolling Stone magazine.

• Your local retirement home might love some reading material! Doctor's offices and salons sometimes get free magazine subscriptions sent to them because the publishers know they have people in the waiting room looking for things to read, and hey, free advertising! Other places are sometimes overlooked and have old, outdated reading material. Call your dentist before your appointment, they may gladly accept a few issues in their waiting room - just make sure to cut your name out of the cover first.
  

Trashed

Philadelphia
by Rudyard Kipling

"Brother Square-Toes"--Rewards and Fairies.
If you're off to Philadelphia in the morning,
You mustn't take my stories for a guide.
There's little left, indeed, of the city you will read of,
And all the folk I write about have died.
Now few will understand if you mention Talleyrand,
Or remember what his cunning and his skill did;
And the cabmen at the wharf do not know Count Zinzendorf,
Nor the Church in Philadelphia he builded.

It is gone, gone, gone with lost Atlantis,
(Never say I didn't give you warning).
In Seventeen Ninety-three 'twas there for all to see,
But it's not in Philadelphia this morning.

If you're off to Philadelphia in the morning,
You mustn't go by anything I've said.
Bob Bicknell's Southern Stages have been laid aside for ages,
But the Limited will take you there instead.
Toby Hirte can't be seen at One Hundred and Eighteen
North Second Street--no matter when you call;
And I fear you'll search in vain for the wash-house down the lane
Where Pharaoh played the fiddle at the ball.

It is gone, gone, gone with Thebes the Golden,
(Never say I didn't give you warning).
In Seventeen Ninety-four 'twas a famous dancing floor--
But it's not in Philadelphia this morning.

If you're off to Philadelphia in the morning,
You must telegraph for rooms at some Hotel.
You needn't try your luck at Epply's or "The Buck,"
Though the Father of his Country liked them well.
It is not the slightest use to inquire for Adam Goos,
Or to ask where Pastor Meder has removed--so
You must treat as out of date the story I relate
Of the Church in Philadelphia he loved so.

He is gone, gone, gone with Martin Luther
(Never say I didn't give you warning)
In Seventeen Ninety-five he was, ( rest his soul! ) alive.
But he's not in Philadelphia this morning.

If you're off to Philadelphia this morning,
And wish to prove the truth of what I say,
I pledge my word you'll find the pleasant land behind
Unaltered since Red Jacket rode that way.
Still the pine-woods scent the noon; still the catbird sings his tune;
Still autumn sets the maple-forest blazing;
Still the grape-vine through the dusk flings her soul-compelling musk;
Still the fire-flies in the corn make night amazing!
They are there, there, there with Earth immortal
( Citizens, I give you friendly warning ). .
The thins that truly last when men and times have passed,
They are all in Pennsylvania this morning!

Food Recycling Law

San Francisco has implemented a food recycling law and encourages everyone to throw their food trash into a compost bin, rather than in the trash. This significantly cuts down the amount of trash sent to landfills, and stench on trash day.

Seattle began this in the beginning of 2009, but only requires residents to follow, not businesses or restaurants.

Hopefully this law catches on and spreads across the country.

Read the entire article here.

Thumbs Up!

I came across this community garden a few weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised that something like this existed. I searched the internet and found this website for community gardens across America. Every garden varies in depth - some gardens are acres upon acres, some gardens consist only of flowers and other non-edible vegetation, some exist only to preserve green space.

Look up a garden near you!

Freecycle

I am a major supporter of thrift stores. I love the treasure hunt they become, and I love the prices. I've picked up some really old cameras, old school Nintendo games, records [more so when I was a DJ], furniture and items for costume parties.

Whenever I go clothes shopping, I come home and make a thrift store pile to exchange say, 3 old things for the 3 new things I just bought. Of course it always ends up that I donate more than just an equal amount to my new purchases...or if I don't have a significant amount of stuff to donate I wait or ask friends if they want to add anything to my donation pile.

Anyway, back to the treasure hunt aspect of it all. There is a website out there that is the online version of thrift stores! It's called Freecycle and it's like trash picking on the internet. They want to give items a few more lives before they end up in the dumpster just because the owner doesn't want them anymore. So next time you come up empty handed after a thrift store visit or dumpster diving, go to Freecycle!

Please recycle your cardboard

Why recycle cardboard? Why not just throw it in the trash...

Doesn't a little part of you die inside when you throw something recyclable into the trash? Or is that just me?

The worst seems to be when people go on vacation - because it seems like people take a vacation from recycling also. They forget to have their papers stopped at home, so their newspapers gather on their driveways and get soggy. They buy paper plates for their mountain or beach homes and just throw away their dishes, because hey, who wants to do dishes while on vacation! I could go on and on but you see my point. I hope.

Recycle your bottle caps!

Aveda is an environmentally-aware company that produces a professional line of cosmetics including makeup, skin care and hair color. Their products are plant-based and can be found at Aveda salons and spas or retail stores. Check out some of these links for detailed information regarding their product line.

Aveda has realized that the caps on your plastic containers are not recycled, and end up in landfills or in streams, etc., where they sometimes are mistaken as food by animals. They are accepting these caps at select stores and salons.

"Join the Recycle Caps with Aveda campaign and feel great knowing that your plastic caps will be repurposed into new packaging and kept from entering our waterways and harming wildlife."

To find a location near you, click here.

Beautiful Creekside View

Beauty and sadness always go together.
Nature thought beauty too rich to go forth
Upon the earth without a meet alloy.


George MacDonald

Guerrilla Gardening

Guerrilla gardening is one of the most beautiful organizations I have ever heard of. A friend sent me a link to their site a long while back, and I was amazed and touched by their concept and concern.

These wonderful people come across a bare traffic island, a poorly landscaped park or a neglected planter, and take over! You can see before and after photos showing a cruddy little section of public property transformed into a wonderful little oasis. The first time I looked at their site it seemed they did their gardening at night and in secret. Now it looks like they aren't as sneaky about it and you can see photos of happy people planting during the day.

Checking out their site now, I am excited to see that it has expanded and that more troops have joined from around the world! If you go to the community section, you can search for established communities that you can join. If you don't see your own city listed [or a near by city], start one!

If anything, please check out their website and maybe even help by donating plants, gardening tools or money to buy plants and gardening tools.

Parking lot wasteland

Parking Lot Wasteland.

This parking lot, as many parking lots for American shopping centers, are built with more than enough parking spaces. If you notice, about half of any given parking lot is empty. Someone told me once that they plan out retail parking spots based on how many spaces they think they'll need for Christmas. I'm not sure how true this is but it seems silly to create all that run-off and spend all that extra money on paving just for one month of the year.

I remember back in my high school environmental science class learning about alternatives to the typical pavement options. My teacher talked about something similar to this, where one company used something comparable to cinder blocks on their side and planted grass in the voids. Instead of having a huge barren wasteland that had high maintenance costs and put off lots of heat in the summer, and run-off after storms, they had a lush grass that was stable enough to park your car on. The only maintenance was the occasional mowing.

Much to our disappointment, he concluded that the company had to revert back to blacktop because too many women were complaining about their high heels getting stuck in the grass.

Oil Photography Exhibit

Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has the idea! Right now at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, you can see an amazing exhibit aimed at opening awareness towards oil consumption with a political and artistic spin. The photos aren't just oil spill after oil spill and sad little seals covered in oil. He makes it even more interesting and enough to make you ditch your vehicle for a set of sneakers.

You can read more about the photographer here, and his exhibit here.

More Coming Soon!

This site was started to open your eyes. Don't forget to stop occasionally and look at your surroundings that you and your peers are creating. How many bags of trash does your household create each week? (Especially around holidays!) How full is your recycle bin each week? You may be eligible for recycling incentives (you get rewarded for recycling!) but you have to check in your area to see if a program is offered.

I want this site to inspire one reader to start a recycling program within their office, another reader to be religious about bringing their own reusable bags to the grocery store, another reader not to use so much wrapping paper for Christmas or birthdays, another reader to buy local produce or for a reader to stop throwing trash out the windows when they drive.

I hope it works and I hope you pass on the news.