Green Goodness: a Grounded Look at Being Green

Marc and I went to Falls Lake in Raleigh this past Sunday for, what Marc thought, was fishing.  I went just to relax on a rock.  Little did we realize that Falls Lake is simply a disaster zone of plastic, broken glass, cigarette butts and nuclear waste.

OK, the nuclear waste is a step too far, perhaps, but I did take this odd picture of some sort of oily rainbowish substance floating around the edge:

Then, I realized why Marc and I had actually ended up at the lake (as if the fates reigned us in).  Enjoy the next few minutes and see how I turned something sad into something fun. I turned trash into a disco!

Yes, I had fun with Marc, picking up and logging each piece with a picture.  And no, every single pic in the video is a different piece ~ no duplicate shots of litter.  And this all took place in 30 minutes in about a half a square block of land (fishermen were on both sides of us, so I opted not to disturb their “area”).

What’s sad is, I could do this every day for a year at Falls Lake and still not get it cleaned up.  Not Marc and me by ourselves, at least.  I have to feel that other people out there are doing the same thing as us, though. 

C’est la vie.  We each do what we can, right?

Sustainably yours, Ashley Sue

I do not know about your week, but betweeen life, work and elections, the first three days of this week were pretty high-impact, so I am taking a long deep breathe today to relax with clips from my last trip to the park.

Marc and I went up to Shelley Lake Park recently and I took a few minutes to catch some clips of people relaxing outdoors.  this is kind of like the last two minutes of my favorite show, CBS Sunday Morning, but without the talented photography work…

Enjoy, breathe with purpose and let this minute and a half calm you so you can get on with your work.

If watching this reminded you that you need to get back in touch with breathing and focus, try yoga.  Even puttering around with a few poses can be a tremendous relief if you take the time and do the poses with focus (in other words, clear your mind).  If you need a yoga mat, consider buying a Harmony Mat by Jade and this is why.  Yes, consumerism is bad, but on Allie’s post, you’ll see reason to find another use for your plastic, toxic yoga mat you already have.  It’s such a great post.

Sustainably yours,  Ashley Sue

So, as I mentioned previously (April 19th), Marc and I attended the Raleigh Planet Earth Celebration for Earth Day after I got home from Herbfest.

I also previously mentioned that Herbfest was actually awesome while Raleigh’s huge hoopla was… well, less than awesome.  And that’s being nice.  Unless you are under the age of 12.  Or you happen to have children under the age of 12.  Then, and only then, you may have found Raleigh’s event worth going to.

I nearly decided to scrap the video from the Raleigh event, but I might as well share my highlights from the event.  See for yourself and let me know if I’m overreacting.

Regardless, I think from here on out, I’ll go to Durham’s Earth Day Celebration.  It was only supposed to be from 12 - 6 pm, and I hear that they were having to FORCE people to leave at 7 pm!  Raleigh, on the otherhand, promised Rockstar fun for everyone from 11 - 7, and by 530, it was nothing but sloppy seconds.

As a seasoned manager once said, it’s better to under-promise and over-deliver than to promise the world and disappoint.  Take note of that, Raleigh.  I *won’t* be giving you a second shot next year, no matter whether my fave band is supposed to play or not (since you have them play at 4 pm!).

My friends Jake and Anna have done an AMAZING job looking through NC Assembly laws, on the books or in the works, and highlighted the top 20 on greening our state responsibly.

Check out their finds across four separate posts: NC Assembly Part 1, NC Assembly Part 2, NC Assembly Part 3 and NC Assembly Part 4

My favorites from the posts are:
 

18. Senate Bill 948 - Small Dairy Sustainability
This bill would allow for consumers to contract with local farmers to become partial or complete owners of dairy animals. The original edition of this one was just to allow for people to contract with local farmers to buy fresh milk, but it turned into the current bill that would allow consumers to buy into a local farm to get fresh milk, it now would also require a health warning of the dangers of raw milk, but the nature remains the same. It would allow for small dairy farmers to stay afloat, and for people to support and take part in local agriculture and give themselves a local food source.

17. House Bill 618/Senate Bill 671 - Eat Smart…Move More Initiative
This would provide a budget of $3,000,000 for the next two years for to promote community environments that would support physical activity, healthy lifestyles and personal well-being.

3. Senate Bill 927/House Bill 1073 - Green School Construction Loan Fund/Program
This basically allows for schools to get no interest loans for the purpose of green constructions or renovations. With the number of schools going up in the state every year (especially Wake County) there is no reason why they shouldn’t be building as green as they can, and this would help them cover a lot of those costs.

10. Senate Bill 1149 - Use of Biodiesel on School Buses
This bill would allow $5,000,000 for grants to NC public schools for production of biofuels to be used to run school buses.

11. Senate Bill 141/House Bill 1117 - Topsail Beach/Beach Renourishment funds
This would provide $2,000,000 to the town of Topsail Beach for use in beach renourishment.

All in all, it’s really interesting to see what our state is working on, and for the full 20 that the Green Home HQ picked out, check out the posts!

Planning a wedding can be difficult, but if you want to be a bit more eco-friendly and have a “green” wedding, your headache in finetuning the details may just be starting.

The Green Life has a whole slew of tips for your big day…  Some suggestions are reasonable, and some are a bit too… er… “granola” for me. 

Cheers to choosing locally grown, organic flowers for your day, and everyone can find beautiful vintage jewelry for the day, but I’m not down with lab-created diamonds (though that’s better than conflict diamonds, no doubt), and I think wooden wedding rings are a complete joke (aren’t the rings symbolizing “forever”?).

Hemp wedding dresses or borrowing a friend’s dress is lousy (sorry, just not my thing), and in all honestly, not many guests are going to understand (or bother) to Read the rest of this entry »

From Durham to Raleigh to Pittsboro to Chapel Hill to Clayton to Wake Forest, the entire Triangle is getting down and getting dirty to celebrate Mother Earth this Saturday (April 19th).  Here are some of the Rockstar events going on THIS weekend, as well as which ones you are apt to see me! Read the rest of this entry »

So, in addition to this weekend’s West Durham Urban Hike, check out “Slow-Flow, Warm Glow”, an AWESOME energy, water and conservation event at Watts-Hillandale.  All you have to do is show up at Oval Park on W. Club Blvd on Saturday morning (THIS SATURDAY, 12th April) at 9 am, and then you can pick what you want to do when!

Sierra Club is sponsoring an “Urban Hike” in Durham this Saturday where OWD resident and Durham historian John Schelp will share all the juicy random fun that Durham’s quirky history has…

One resident who has previously taken John’s hike said he learned more in one afternoon on the hike than in the last 64 years of living in Durham.  And Bull City Rising is advocating this awesome experience too.

You may ask, what could I possibly learn on this hike? Perhaps that Madonna Read the rest of this entry »

In an effort to get people outta their cars and onto bikes as transportation (not merely exercise), (1) check out whoisbike and (2) know that Cary is offering classes to boost your road and biking confidence (convenient Cary ~ to both Durham and Raleigh ~ SO REGISTER!) :)  Here’s the email I got (below my pic):

Know someone who is nervous about road bicycling?
Do you think they would feel better about it if they felt more comfortable in traffic?
Well, the Street Cycling course can help them learn how to worry less and enjoy road cycling more. During the course participants will learn how to travel more safely and confidently in traffic, improve their bike handling skills and learn to fix flat tires and other minor repairs.

Location: Middle Creek Community Center, Cary
Saturdays, Apr 12, 19 & 26, 1-4 p.m. (3 classes)
Fees: $30 (Cary Resident), $39 (Non-resident)

For more information about this course, please browse
http://brucewr.home.mindspring.com/ec/StreetCFrame.html

For registration information for this course (#34462),
please visit the Town of Cary’s website http://classweb.townofcary.org/

Bruce Rosar
www.bikeleague.org/cogs/programs/education/instructor_detail/376

*************
So pull out your bike and get where you gotta go!

Meanwhile, get a little inspired by Donald Jones, NBC 17 Morning Anchor by day, rebel speed-demon on two wheels by night… well, he probably bikes by day too, but whatever.

After having quite a debate in a recent post (see comments) about the importance of third-party testing of products, we can all conclude that companies must be accountable for their products and actions. 

Green Daily (a while back) shared The Six Sins of Greenwashing… and in my opinion, it works two ways.  The comments section is pretty alive with one poster on a more than self-righteous ground, feeling that if you don’t move into use only a bus, stop buying anything at all and make your own food, cleaner and clothing, then you can’t make a difference.  She says some relevant stuff but then follows it by saying that only a select few actually care about the environment. 

That, to me, is greenwashing ~ the type that SCARES off people from making any difference in altering things along the way in their everyday lives; the type that teaches people that no matter what they do, they are irrelevant in the big picture ~ unless they foresake everything they know, as they have known it. 

I, inspired by those that lead in this movement of social and environmental responsibility, believe that positive encouragement leads to great change.  On the flip, gloom and doom motivates very few.

Mark Twain said (and I’m not the only one who LOVES this quote): 

Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.

The sin she (the aforementioned commenter) commits is as bad as driving a 1985 Suburban and throwing your cigarette butts and Mickey D wrappers out of your window ~ she implies ‘You are not good enough and your difference Read the rest of this entry »