This year, we planted a vegetable garden and have been in constant amazement at the miracle of life happening in our back yard. I was so enthralled with my first full-grown snow pea, that I had to take a picture of it to share with you. However, in addition to the life that is our plants, there is other not-as-welcome life: the inevitable garden pests. Critters with teeth have been nibbling and insects have added decorative holes to our greens. Wanting to keep to our commitment of maintaining a natural garden, we refuse to buy pesticides, and have planted thing like marigolds and hot peppers, which are supposed to deter interlopers. However, it became apparent that we had to take a bit more aggressive action, so I pulled out the neem oil, which I keep in stock for the production of some of my bath and body products. Neem oil is extracted from the tropical neem tree. I had read a while ago that it is a very effective insecticide, miticide and fungicide, and is listed as okay for use in organic production. According to Plant-care.com, neem oil has the following features: Broad spectrum insecticide/fungicide/miticide controls insects and mites including whitefly, aphid and scale, Controls fungal diseases including black spot, rust, mildew and scab. For indoor/outdoor use on ornamental plants, flowers, vegetables, trees, shrubs and fruit and nut crops. Mountain Rose Herbs says that it biodegrades rapidly in sunlight and within a few weeks in the soil. Neem oil has very low toxicity to humans and pets, but it is not recommended for internal use. I had also read that rosemary and lavender are effective pesticides, plus they smell better than neem, so I decided to include the in my natural pesticide. Here is my recipe: Mix 1 gallon of water with 2 tablespoons of neem, and 1 teaspoon each rosemary and lavender essential oils (I used organic version of all the oils). You can also add a couple of tablespoons of phosphate-free liquid dishwashing soap. Mix thoroughly and pour into a spray bottle. Spray over every part of your plants, mixing frequently to keep the oils and water from separating. By the way, these Sprayco spray bottles, which I buy at my local family-owned hardware store, are made in the US from recycled materials and provide jobs for handicapped individuals.

Post written by: Herban Lifestyle, LLC a GenGreen Certified Business Member

Thanks to Modern Eco Homes, where this blog entry by Katie Nielsen originally came from, and they reached out to us, wanting to share their findings and learn from yours. Enjoy, and please share your eco holiday finds below in the comments

In 1621, the pilgrims at Plymouth celebrated the ending of a successful growing season with a harvest feast, an event that is generally considered the “First Thanksgiving.” They were joined by several Native Americans who had taught the pilgrims how to harvest foods and survive the harsh winter. The feast included foods locally grown and produced by the pilgrims such as duck, lobster, swan, native berries, boiled pumpkin, squash and a variety of other vegetables.

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris’s iconic painting depicts the first Thanksgiving celebration.

Today’s modern Thanksgiving celebration is a far cry from that first harvest feast where the settlers farmed, hunted, and gathered everything they consumed. Today’s traditional feast is a far more industrialized affair, comprised of pre-packaged foods that likely travel hundreds of miles before it ends up on your table.  In fact, it’s estimated that most of the foods consumed in the U.S. travel more than 1500 miles before being sold to consumers. The ability to shop a season-less global food market may be convenient but our incessant appetites and rapidly expanding food chain is taking its (hefty) toll on the environment primarily because of the immense transportation impacts. We have long forgotten what it’s like to eat as prescribed by Mother Nature, as those very first settlers did.

That’s why this year we’re challenging you to a 100-mile eco Thanksgiving! The traditional holiday for giving thanks presents the perfect opportunity to get back in touch with the original roots of the harvest celebration and make your meal local. That means everything you use to prepare your feast should originate within…you guessed it, 100 miles!

For some, preparing such a feast solely from local ingredients may sound daunting but pulling off a 100-mile Thanksgiving is far easier than you think; you just have to know where to look.

Find a Local Bird

The Turkey

Believe it or not, the traditional Thanksgiving bird is raised in most of the lower 48 states, which means most of us can find a local turkey from a farm within 100 miles. Check out Heritage Foods USA or Local Harvest’s Turkey Search.

Use Locally Grown Produce

Locally-Grown Produce

If you live in New England or Washington, delicious, juicy apples can be purchased from a local apple farm. You can find fresh potatoes if you happen to live in Idaho or leafy greens (think lettuce, arugula, cabbage, etc.) in New Mexico and citrus fruits in Arizona and Florida. Research local produce that’s available near you and incorporate it into your meal. The Natural Resources Defense Council offers an Eat Local search, where you can determine what’s fresh near you depending on the season.

Dairy Products

From milk to cheese and ice cream to top the pie, dairy products can be found at local dairy farms located in most states. Not sure what farms are within 100 miles of you? There are a handful of national dairy chains (such as Winder Farms) or you can contact your local dairy council who can refer you to farms in your area.

The Booze

Wine that perfectly complements dark turkey meat will be easy to find if you’re within 100 miles of Napa Valley. For the rest of us, getting our hands on local spirits may be a bit more challenging but certainly not impossible. DrinkLocalWine.com offers a plethora of info on regional wines throughout the country and the Brewers Association can locate microbreweries in your area. To make your Thanksgiving booze even greener, try finding local organic spirits.

Purchase Local Organic Spirits

The Stuffing

Instead of purchasing this traditional Thanksgiving side dish from the prepackaged box, try making a homemade vegetable stuffing using produce found at a local farmers market. There are more than 4800 farmers’ markets operating throughout the continental United States and chances are, there’s one near you. Local Harvest allows you to easily search for farmers’ markets in your area by zip code.

With few exceptions, everything you need to make your Thanksgiving feast (or acceptable alternatives) can be found within a 100-mile radius. Such exceptions generally include spices and coffee, which for many are fundamental to the quintessential Thanksgiving feast. The November holiday was instated to literally give thanks and celebrate blessings but its true meaning is often overshadowed by the impending and often expected feast that accompanies it. The idea behind the 100-mile Thanksgiving is to prepare and enjoy the celebratory meal while significantly reducing your carbon footprint. We encourage you to try new, scrumptious dishes entirely composed of local ingredients. Your 100-mile feast doesn’t have to be a traditional Thanksgiving – it just has to be one that you can enjoy in the company of your family and friends.

Are you planning a 100-mile Thanksgiving? We want to hear from you! Share your ideas, tips, and tasty recipes using only locally-produced foods in our comment section! We’ll post some of our favorites on our blog. Can’t wait to hear from you!

by Kathi King

Last month, Santa Barbara kicked off a new comprehensive, voluntary reusable bag program called “Where’s Your Bag.” The program aims to educate the public about the negative environmental effects of plastic and paper single-use bags and to promote the use of reusable shopping bags. “Where’s Your Bag” is part of a community-wide effort to provide a solutions-based approach to serious environmental and pollution issues.

by Andrew Micheler

When it comes to the green marketplace there is a lot of sexy stuff: clothing, creams, computers, cars, and of course building products. Just about everything you can buy seems to have a green variation.

Marketers and designers have pounced on our want to do less damage to the planet by having us buy more stuff. That’s their job, but our job is to make sure we are not making purchases for the wrong reason. Green Bling is the environmental badge hanging on a product when that product, at best, takes a baby step to reducing its environmental footprint but shouts out its environmentalism. You have to cringe at a full sized GM SUV rolling past you with hybrid stickers and little green leaves all over it. All for two lousy gallons of saved gas per mile. The $400 set of organic cotton bed sheets look pretty odd in a bedroom full of nylon carpet (a VOC emitter and sponge). That tote bag isn’t going to make that much difference relative to how you are taking your groceries home.

Looking good isn’t enough. An external hard drive clad in bamboo isn’t green unless it uses a lot less energy too. Your super non-VOC paint does little good if your furniture is new, cheap, and full of urea formaldehyde glues. Your new LCD TV that just replaced your 20 year old one is not nearly as energy efficient as replacing your 20 year old refrigerator.

Then there is the home itself. A house with super expensive countertops made from recycled paper is fine, unless you go to the mechanical room and find the furnace to be a cheap minimally efficient affair. Solar panels on the roof are really Green Bling when the insulation in the walls is inadequate. It’s that natural, green certified, architecturally envisioned home that has lots of glass all in the wrong places. The ultimate Green Bling to me is the green built trophy vacation house. Ouch.

I am not saying that buying all these things is the wrong thing to do, only that you should buy the sexy stuff only after you invested in the basics. When you do that you have every reason to brag when you are looking so good.

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About the Author: Andrew Michler, LEED AP has lived “off-the-grid” in Colorado since 1995. He started Baosol Sustainable Building Consulting in 2007 to cultivate the low entropy revolution. He is also the co-founder of the BeLocal Northern Colorado Green Builder’s Guild.

By Annie Kaskade

If you’re an eco-conscious parent, you know to look for materials like organic cotton, hemp, and recycled fabric, but how much do you care about where clothes are made?

Besides the prevalence of abusive working conditions for millions of garment workers throughout the world with overseas manufacturing, there is also much more pollution generated.

The production of fabric from raw materials is a chemical intensive process that generates both air and water pollution from the spinning, weaving, and dyeing processes. Synthetic materials often start with petroleum-based plastics, and conventional cotton is grown with 25% of the world’s pesticides and insecticides (Organic Trade Association). Most of this is already happening overseas, as there are very few U.S. mills still in operation.

The United States has stringent air and water pollution regulations that are well enforced, especially when compared to other clothing-producing countries. Even if U.S. clothing manufacturers are forced to import the fabric, the air pollution and wastewater generated by the steps of cutting, sewing, garment-dyeing (dyeing of finished garments after they have been sewn), screen printing, etc. is better controlled in the United States.

Another aspect of USA-made production is the reduction in transportation pollution. Although fabric may still need to be imported (pending greater demand on U.S. mills), clothing production is an iterative process. A designer makes a pattern, but then samples need to be made, the pattern is revised, grading (pattern adjustments for different sizes) is developed, hardware (buttons/snaps/rivets etc.) is sourced, woven or printed labels and hangtags are made, and finally finished products are made. Typically, this process will involve multiple overseas trips by the designer as well as multiple overseas shipments of sample product. If there is a communication breakdown (very easy with overseas manufacture), entire production lots that don’t meet quality standards can be lost, resulting in tremendous waste. Keeping manufacturing in the U.S. keeps designers close to the production process, with better efficiencies and less pollution and waste.

Kids are continually growing, and they are hard on their clothing – especially when they are young and they play, run, climb, crawl, and explore. Clothes for children don’t last nearly as long as they do for adults…one year at the most and even then some things are too stained or worn to pass down.

So, it’s easy to see why many parents, even eco-conscious parents, go for the cheapest clothes they can find. USA-made clothing is typically more expensive than imported clothes because of the higher labor costs, but because of the tight oversight and increased production efficiencies, the finished product is actually better made.

With U.S. jobs receding by the day, global warming accelerating at an unprecedented pace, worldwide water resource challenges mounting, shouldn’t we be acting now to support U.S. manufacturing? When it comes to fast-growing kids, why should we continue to sacrifice quality and value for price?

While we may have been programmed for a kids’ clothing budget that is based on import pricing, we are also programmed by the clothing industry to buy more than we need, just because clothing is available and inexpensive. Why can’t we choose quality USA-made eco clothing that lasts longer, and in the end we buy less of? Seems like now is a good time to start changing.

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Annie Kaskade is the founder of GreenEdge Kids, the largest online source of organic designer kids’ clothes, sizes 2-14. She seeks to raise awareness and options for organic children’s clothing, and writes the Eco Kids with Fashion Focus blog.

by Dottie Simmons

I find myself a rather lazy cook. I want to have my herbs and spices pre-blended so I don’t have to formulate them for every meal. Over time I have learned of or invented herb and spice blends for everything from steak to tofu, Mexican to Chinese. For us the process begins in the garden. Here are three blends of herbs we grow, dry and combine to brighten our meals:

MEAT TREAT:

1. Rosemary – An easy to grow perennial in the ground or a pot. It is impervious to bugs or deer.
2. Sweet Basil – A hot weather annual that is easy to grow. Pick repeatedly to keep from flowering and it will grow back.
3. Thyme – The regular sort, variegated or plain, perennial with tiny leaves. Harvest before it flowers.
4. Bay Leaves – Mediterranean Bay (the kind you get in stores) is milder. If you use the west coast native Bay Laurel, use it sparingly. We have a Mediterranean Bay tree in a large pot!
5. Garlic – We buy garlic granules by the pound. It is slightly coarser than garlic powder, and is definitely NOT garlic salt. I store it in a glass jar with an airtight lid.

FISH FEST:

1. Lemon Thyme – A wonderfully fragrant perennial, easy to grow and harvest as for Thyme (above).
2. Lemon Basil – Another wonderful basil, it loves hot weather and is an annual that you can harvest repeatedly. Just remember to cut it above two new leaf shoots.
3. I have never found Lemon Basil or Lemon Thyme in a store, so plan ahead and grow your own if you want to try this blend.
4. Dillweed – Use the feathery leaves, not the seeds. Plant this annual once and it will re-seed and grow forever.
5. Oregano – A hardy perennial. Greek is milder, Mexican stronger, use accordingly. We prefer Greek.
6. Sweet Marjoram – A very fragrant annual that is a relative to Oregano.  Use with eggs, veggies and meats.
7. Celery leaves – I actually grow a specific type of celery that mainly produces leaves. When I have tried to grow nice stalks of celery I always got wimpy stems with lots of leaves anyway – it just does not like our climate. I also save the leaves from celery (organic) I buy at the market and dry them in a colander after trimming them from the stalk.
8. Garlic – (See above)
9. Onion Powder – This we buy as well.

ITALIAN SEASONING:

1. Oregano, Sweet Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic… See above for all of these.
2. Fennel Seed – We buy this, toast it lightly in a small, heavy cast iron pan and then crush it slightly with a mortar and pestle.

PREPARING THE HERBS:

All the herbs listed here are harvested early in the morning after the dew has dried off of them, and hung in bunches by their stems in a well ventilated place out of direct sunlight. I like to use a rubber band to hold the bunch together, and a twisty-tie or string tied on to hang them. The rubber band conveniently stays tight as the herbs dry and the soft stems of basil and others shrink in diameter. Woody stemmed plants such as rosemary and thyme have no problem. As to the bay, I just prune off a very small branch full of leaves and dry it and that lasts us a year or two!

When dry, strip the leaves from the stems and store as whole leaves in airtight containers (we use glass jars) in a cool, dark cupboard. When you make a blend or use the herbs directly in cooking, that is the time to crush or chop them. Once broken, they will lose their aromatic and flavor qualities faster.
By the way, you can save the stems and bundle them, tie with cotton or jute string, and throw on hot coals when grilling for herbed smoked meats.

ASSEMBLING THE BLENDS:

This is the inventive part. I never measure anything unless I have to, and cannot begin to give you exact measurements for any of these, but I do have some “rules of thumb.” In all of the blends, you use equal amounts of the large leafy herbs (basil, oregano, dill, celery).

Grind these coarsely with an herb grinder (there are many styles, I like the Mouli Parsmint best) or chop with a knife. Thyme and rosemary should be around 2/3 the amount of one of the others after grinding. You can run the rosemary through the grinder as well.

To 1/2 cup blended herbs add 1 large bay leaf, ground, and/OR 1 Tablespoon garlic granules OR 1 Tablespoon onion powder, or 2 teaspoons fennel seed, as called for. If you use bay laurel, use less.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, then store in an airtight container until used.

USING THEM:

Sprinkle Meat Treat over chicken, turkey, etc. before cooking. Add 1 or 2 teaspoons to oil and vinegar with 1/2 teaspoon salt for a nice herb vinaigrette.

Sprinkle Fish Fest over any kind of seafood before cooking. Also sprinkle with a bit of lemon pepper or a squirt of lemon juice.

Italian seasoning can be added to tomato sauce for pasta, lasagna or any tomato dish.

YUM! I’m hungry just thinking about it all. Now off to transplant my basil plants (sweet, lemon, purple (for salad dressing), mammoth (mild – good in salads), and Thai). I think ahead, as I work in the garden, to the harvest and culinary delights ahead.

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About the author: Dottie Simmons is a natural soap maker in the mountains of Northern California where her family is dedicated to learning to live with minimal impact on the land. From her blog you can read musings on living a healthy, sustainable and off-grid life, and from her family’s self-sufficient homestead, come the natural and nontoxic soaps and body care products that are Simmons Natural Bodycare.

by Beth Doane

Since organic apparel and food products are still new to so many consumers, I wanted to spell out some easy answers as to why it’s practical, ethical and increasingly easier to consume organic products.

According to the Organic Trade Association, “Organic refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed. It includes a system of production, processing, distribution and sales that assures consumers that the products maintain the organic integrity that begins on the farm.”

I always recommend buying certified organic since it more safely ensures that a strict code of standards and guidelines have been followed. For example, when we purchase the cotton for Rain Tees from our Peruvian organic cotton farmers, the rolls of cotton come with specific paperwork that certifies it was grown and harvested organically. Before the tees can enter the U.S.A. and be declared organic this paperwork must also be presented to U.S. customs.

Here is a short list on why buying organic is the way to go.

No Crazy Chemicals

Organic farms don’t use chemicals, artificial fertilizers or harsh pesticides, so they are filled with only the crops themselves and natural wildlife! This also ensures that those nasty chemicals don’t make contact with your skin if the crops are woven into clothing, as millions are every day. Growing crops in a natural environment also keeps the land healthy and sustainable and ensures naturally fertile soil and waterways that stay free from pollution.

No Evil Pesticides

The conventional textile industry is sadly one of the most polluting industries in the world, which is why more and more consumers and apparel producers are demanding organic fabrics. More than a quarter of the world’s insecticides are used for growing conventional cotton. These insecticides kill countless animals, plants and insects, and pollute our soil and waters. Pesticides also contain known carcinogens (agents that have been proven to cause cancer), which is bad news for farmers and the rest of us.

Not only are pesticides toxic, they are also pricey to use. Furthermore, money from our taxes pays to remove these harmful chemicals from our water supplies so that they don’t leak as much into our drinking water. The EPA has had to step in on more than one occasion where pesticide run-off has killed hundreds of thousands of fish in our waterways. If pesticides are killing our fish, why are we ok with them being all over our foods and cotton crops?

No GMOs

A GMO (genetically modified organism) is a man-made organism created in a laboratory. Think “frog genes inserted into seeds that will grow corn.” Literally. Organic farming does not allow genetically modified crops because they create absolute environmental havoc. And no one really knows the long term affects of GMOs.

You’re Supporting Ethical Farming

Organic farmers are following their morals and ethics and not necessarily their pocketbooks. It takes a lot of time and money to be organic and most farmers can’t afford the expense, which makes organic farming less common. Organic farms are inspected by international bodies and have to follow extremely strict guidelines. Organic crops may also yield smaller harvests because, without pesticides, sometimes the crops are consumed by wildlife. So, the right thing is not always the easiest, but as more farmers grow organic and more consumers buy organic, it will be so much easier to find organic products at lower cost.

It Feels So Good!

The number one thing we hear about our organic collections is “It feels so good!”  Organic cotton can actually feel softer than regular cotton products and, after all of the careful steps and diligence it takes to produce organic cotton, it just feels better in our hearts too, I think.

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About the author: Beth Doane is a fashion designer and consultant focusing on eco-conscious product development and marketing. She founded and designed the internationally acclaimed Rain Tee collection and Andira International.