Sustainable charity on Oprah

In case you're looking for a good sustainble charity to support, or if you're planning ahead for Christmas gifts, or both - look no further!

Heifer International is a lovely charity that I've been supporting for years. Their projects help end hunger and save the Earth by teaching and empowering people around the world with initiatives in sustainable farming, animal management techniques, gender equality, HIV/AIDS, microenterprise, and urban agriculture.

As for the Christmas angle, you can choose items from their online gift catalog to send in honor of those hard-to-buy-for loved ones.

And right now there's a "double your gift" project for farmers in Honduras.

Charity Navigator gives Heifer International 3 of 4 stars.

Want more? Watch the Oprah Winrey show on Thursday October 1st, which was inspired by The New York Times best-selling book _Half the Sky_ by Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn.
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Knit unto others

Cold weather is coming... doesn't it just make you want to knit?? Me too.

My favorite cheapskate, Mary Hunt, recently posted some knitting resources in her newsletter for people looking to recycle or donate leftover yarn, or be on the receiving end of such goodness.

National:

www.Ravelry.com - online community for knitters to share patterns, yarn, tips & tricks, etc.
www.ebay.com - buy or sell yarn here

Donate yarn or knitting skills to:

www.NewbornsInNeed.org - national charity dedicated to helping preemie and newborn babies
www.ProjectLinus.org - volunteers knit, crochet, or quilt blankets for sick or traumatized children
www.KnitForKids.org - a project by Guidepost magazine
www.KnittingForCharity.org - links to charity organizations

Also check with your local hospitals, churches, nursing homes, and craft stores.

Here are a few of my favorite local yarn shops:

Woolworks near Mount Washington (no website? phone 410-377-2060 or visit 6117 Falls Rd)

Lovelyarns in Hampden

Spinster Yarns & Fibers in Lauraville

Clover Hill in Catonsville

Happy knitting!
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How to save water

How do YOU save water? EPA's Pick5 blog has some ideas...

http://blog.epa.gov/blog/2009/09/11/how-do-you-use-less-water/

Here are some things I do...

Don't buy bottled water: one of my company's offices saved over $1000 and 6000 gallons by switching to filtered water, not to mention reduced greenhouse gas emissions from not trucking all those heavy bottles around.

Don't run water while shaving, scrubbing, brushing teeth, washing dishes, etc. Also shower less often (think like a European!).

Recycle water from rinsing or cooking produce to water your plants: added nutrients!

Use a rain barrel for watering the garden. I also use a soaker hose buried at root level with a layer of mulch. Watering in the morning reduces evaporation.

What could you do to conserve water in your life?

Car Talk exposes eco-scams

On today's episode of the Car Talk radio show on NPR, those crazy Tappet brothers mentioned their "scam detector" research about products claiming to boost your MPG, ethanol makers, engine treatments, etc... turns out that most of the product claims are bogus, but the ethanol maker is legit and actually used by the Sierra Nevada brewing company. Don't get burned by the others!

Check out the research (and other fun car stuff) here...

http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/scams/
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Gimme five, Brita!

I'm a heavy drinker... of water, that is. Lately I've noticed that Brita and Pur have been marketing water filters as a way to save money (bottled water is expensive) and the environment (processing and shipping bottled water emits unnecessary carbon dioxide). I'm a fan of both ideas. But what do you do with the filters when they're used up? Recycle 'em.

Brita has launched a filter recycling program with the Preserve Gimme 5 program, which collects #5 plastics at Whole Foods stores across the USA (unfortunately, none yet in Maryland). There are also links to join the Filter For Good program by pledging to reduce bottled water waste, and the Brita Climate Ride for bicyclists.

I was disappointed to see that Pur doesn't mention any filter recycling options on their website.

So until our local Whole Foods stores start collecting Brita filters for this program, you can mail them to the program in Cortland, NY, using ground shipping... or stockpile them at home and wait. Pur users: go write some letters!
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On ceiling fans and clotheslines

I'm sure I've mentioned the Everyday Cheapskate newsletter before: author Mary Hunt writes from experience about how to get out of debt by living below your means, and many of her suggestions focus on the reduce/reuse/recycle theme. Today's newsletter shared a few tips about conserving energy in your home.

Dear Mary,
How much electricity does it take to run fans? I wonder if fans really are more efficient than air conditioning. Susan, Michigan

Dear Susan,
The difference in energy use between running the air conditioning and an electric fan is huge. In the typical home, air conditioning uses more electricity than anything else, about 16 percent of the total electricity used. In warmer regions, air conditioning can be 60 to 70 percent of your summer electric bill.

Electricity is measured and billed according to the number of kilowatt-hours you use with a scale of 1000 watts per hour. A 2.5-ton central air conditioning system uses 3,500 kilowatts per hour of use, which is 3.5 kWh. A medium-sized window a/c unit uses 900, or 0.90 kWh. A floor fan uses 100 watts, or 0.10 kWh on the highest speed, and a 42-inch ceiling fan set on high uses only 75, or 0.075 kWh. Where I live in California, we pay 17 cents per kilowatt-hour billed. That means it costs about $.60 per hour to run a home central air conditioner, but only 1.2 cents per hour to run a ceiling fan.

Dear Mary,
How can I get my spouse on the same page as me when it comes to saving money? I'd like to save on our electricity by using a clothesline and installing more power strips that we can switch off at night to stop the phantom load. I know both of these can significantly reduce our costs. My husband doesn't see the point to either of these ideas, nor does he like the feeling of clothes dried on a line. How can I bring him around? I'd like to reduce our cost so we can build a fund for the winter months when our power bill is sky-high. Sarah S., e-mail

Dear Sarah,
Your best bet is to compromise. Make a deal with him that if you can get the laundry soft without using so much expensive energy, then he'll install a good, strong clothesline at a height and location that are best for you.

When line-dried laundry comes out stiff, it means the detergent is not getting rinsed out completely. Use only the amount of detergent recommended on the container. Add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the last rinse to get all of the soap rinsed out. Jeans and bath towels receive the most complaints. To prevent their stiffness, remove them from the line when they are almost dry and run them through the dryer for five to 10 minutes.

Take the responsibility yourself of installing power strips and turning them off at the end of the day. Start keeping track of the amount your utility bills drop as a result of these simple techniques. Then, show him in black and white how much money you're not spending. I think he'll come around when he starts seeing those dollar signs.

Subscribe to the newsletter here.

Unidentified Farm Objects

Been getting some interesting, unfamiliar veggies in our CSA shipments lately:

Pattypan squashes (see image) look like UFOs... bumpy, green-yellow-speckled ones with stems, that is. They have a pretty good shelf life (about a week), but best before they get rubbery: look for tight, shiny rind on squash in general. Delicious roasted with olive oil/salt/pepper and herbs, also good grilled or steamed (chop the big ones, but small ones you can steam whole - I saw them cooked this way at a fancy gala once).

Garlic scapes are delightful too: these long, swirling stalks can be chopped and steamed for a flavorful addition to soups or salads. Eat raw to repel vampires and other undesirables.

ABCs of greens:
Arugula (peppery and strong, use sparingly unless you're into that kind of thing)
Broccoli leaves (big, waxy gray-green color. chop and boil in chicken stock for soup)
Collards (saute with olive oil, salt, etc)

Zucchini update: My two plants are dying a slow death of powdery mildew, and the recent squash vine borer attack is hastening their demise, but I've got so many zucchinis piled up in the kitchen and freezer right now that I shed no tears.

Now harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, with eggplants soon to follow. Patting myself on the back for planting parsley and basil with the tomatoes, as these herbs are a great finishing touch for salads and sandwiches.

The latest on green cars

If you've been listening to NPR lately then you already know about the CARS (aka "Cash for Clunkers") program. Read about it here.

And just today the EPA announced that its Green Vehicle guide has been updated to include 2010 models.

In related news, President Obama signed a bill that will set a national fuel economy standard of 35.5 MPG by 2016. This policy will cover car models from 2012-2016 and it's estimated that 900 million metric tons of GHG will be reduced as a result.

Curious about your current vehicle's fuel economy? Check it out here for an estimate. For a real-time test, keep track of your odometer reading the next few times you fill your gas tank: then you can calculate your actual miles per gallon.

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Beet It

Today I pay dual homage to the late great Michael Jackson and my favorite vegetable of the week with a sweet and easy recipe I adapted from "The Vegetable Dishes I can't live without" by Mollie Katzen of the Moosewood cookbook fame.

Take a bunch of beets with stems and leaves: cut the stems, leaving about an inch of stem on the beets. Scrub the beets, trim off stringy roots, and wrap in foil (still damp - the moisture will help steam). Bake at 400 degrees for about an hour, or until soft when stabbed. After they cool a bit, you can rub off the skins and chop coarsely. Meanwhile, trim stems off greens and wash - you can chop the stems to eat, or discard. When the baking beets are almost ready, chop leaves and stems into bite-sized pieces and saute with olive oil, minced garlic, dash of salt until halfway wilted (saute stems first, as they take longer to soften). Add the chopped baked beets to the cooking pot, then saute to desired level of wiltedness.

Recently I heard a farmer say that the best way to get kids to eat beets is to tell them that it'll turn their poo red... incidentally, this trick may work on some curious adults too, or at least serve as a warning for hypochondriacs!

My garden is churning out so many zucchini lately that I'm alternately freezing them and giving them away. My Busy Person's Guide to Preserving Food book is getting a good workout. And I'm shopping for an Energy Star chest freezer, but the selection out there isn't what I would've thought, considering the rebates that are available... or maybe the stores I've hit are just picked over already? I'm also shopping for a nice big stainless steel pot to try my hand at canning this summer... any suggestions?

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Recycling makes cents (and dollars!)

Baltimore City recycling news: 1+1 pickup started this week on July 13th, read all about it here.

Meanwhile in the county... In 2008, Baltimore County made $5 million from selling recyclables. That's million with an M. That's money that they didn't have to extract from us in the form of taxes. Doesn't that sound like another compelling reason to participate in curbside recycling, in addition to keeping useful materials out of landfills and reducing the need to mine or manufacture new? In San Francisco, residents are being compelled to recycle more forcefully by way of a new law that fines people for not recycling. More cities are expected to follow suit... so get into the habit of recycling now!

Some small town residents of New York and New Jersey are required to purchase trash tags for each bag they toss. Outside town limits, residents must hire private waste haulers to pick up trash in addition to purchasing trash tags. Recycling and composting a great way to cut down your household expenses in these areas, and the locals are catching on.

Know any towns that sponsor municipal compost pickup? In typical backyard composting, it's easiest to keep your green-to-brown mix simple by using only uncooked foods free of fats and oils. However, in large scale composting operations like Waste Neutral Group based here in Baltimore, it's possible to tweak the mix such that even cooked food scraps break down properly. Baltimore County already turns our curbside yard waste pickup into mulch and compost (which is free to residents)... maybe someday they will add weekly food scrap pickup too?

In the meantime, I know what you're thinking. Composting can be a dirty business. "But I can't compost, I live in an apartment." --actually, yes you can. NatureMill makes a composter small enough to fit into a corner of your kitchen.

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