Focus Organic.com

All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume Thirty Two

Stefanie — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:05:15 +0000

Welcome to the January 5th, 2009 edition of All Things Eco.

Be sure to Stumble the posts you like, or submit them to other social bookmarking services. Let's promote each other, as well as this blog carnival.

I'm back from CT (unfortunately), so I apologize for the lack of attention paid to the site the past couple of weeks, and hope to get more into the swing of things again. Hope that everyone's New Year went well and would love to hear your resolutions! Mine is, obviously, to figure out a way to move home to CT... ASAP.

Hopefully with the holidays done and over and the new year started, the blog carnival will also pick up again and start receiving more submissions! Unfortunately for this week, a few of the submissions I received had not a thing to do with anything eco!

Astrid Lee presents Eating Organics Heals Our World; a How-To article posted at We Are One World Healing. Astrid Lee says, "Heard about the connection between red meat and the deforestation in the Amazon??!! Read up how you can make a difference in the world by eating right. Easy..."

SimplyForties presents Lower Gas Prices, A Mixed Blessing? posted at SimplyForties. From the article:

Regardless of the current prices, oil is a non-renewable resource and its reserves are finite. There is no question that, at some point, we are going to run out. If not in our lifetime, then in the future of a not-too-distant generation. If we don’t face it and get prepared, it’s going to be a disaster. The high price of gas was forcing us to get ready. Will we now slide back into complacency?

RecycleCindy presents The Green Shopping Bag posted at My Recycled Bags.com. RecycleCindy says, "What better way to start the new year than to recycle plastic bags into a wonderful reusable green shopping bag. I offer a free pattern and picture tutorial on how you can create a handy shopping bag from recycled plastic grocery bags. The free crochet pattern is found here."

sebastian@zoomiscooters.com presents The Top 5 Electric Scooters Of 2008 posted at Zoomi Life. Sebastian says, "Electric scooters are great short-distance commuter vehicles, and they are environmentally friendly, and inexpensive to operate. Here's our list of picks for the top 5 electric scooters of 2008."

Izmet presents Giving thanks for: water. and Mining e-waste: The New Gold Rush? posted at Izmet's Dream.

David presents Which Fruits & Vegetables You Should Be Buying Organic. | The Good Human posted at The Good Human. Another reminder of the produce you should be buying organic versus the ones that are less contaminated.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of All Things Eco using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Eco-Friendly Friday Tips Volume Thirty

Stefanie — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:00:12 +0000

January 2nd's Tip

Start the New Year Green: We can all start the New Year green, and it doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. In addition to the steps you can follow in your daily life to become more green, you can help our earth become more green with very little money.

With Mokugift, you can plant a tree to help fight deforestation for $1. The recently upgraded version of the site allows you to choose where your tree will be planted.

Mokugift is proud to partner with two award-winning, tree-planting organizations to plant trees in twelve countries fighting deforestation and poverty: Trees For The Future (TFTF) and Sustainable Harvest International(SHI). TFTF and SHI work in communities that have seen chemical-based farming deplete their soil and poison their water sources. In some cases, their land has been effect by local mining operations that have clear-cut the forest and polluted the water table.

TFTF and SHI educate local communities about planting techniques that enrich the land and empower them to overcome poverty. As each participating family proudly graduates from these programs with healthy farming knowledge and enriched lifestyles, they inspire other families to adopt the same techniques.

Trees can be displayed on Facebook, Myspace, and other popular sites to help show others and promote the program. Planting a tree is a great way to start off the new year, and would make a good gift for someone to help them start greening their lifestyle this year.

Random Posts

Wordless Wednesday - Happy New Year's Eve!

Stefanie — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:00:30 +0000

Random Posts

Deserted Island in Mexico, Full of Trash

Joie — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:24:35 +0000

I just returned from a fabulous trip to the Mayan Riviera. It was as beautiful as it sounds, pristine beaches, clam seas, warm winds, and strong drinks. The Mayans sure had a beautiful playground. I was fortunate enought to be one of the few on earth to camp at a marine preserve called PezMaya.

PezMaya is not easy to get to, we had to ride the bus for an hour, hike for over an hour and take a 2 hour boat ride to the island. (We started just north of Cancun) Once we arrived, it was breathtaking, and obvious that no humans lived there. There were no people, no mariachi bands, and no electricity or running water. We were on untouched land. Ahhh how peaceful it was, you could almost forget that anyone else existed outside this little piece of paradise, except for one big reminder... the piles and piles of trash that have washed up all over the island! It was truly unbelievable how much crap was all over the place. Everything from beer cans to clothes to large pieces of benches, I was in shock. How did all this trash get out here? Did other campers bother to hike all that way to this private island carrying this stuff? I asked the head of the preserve, who happened to be a friend of ours, the answer was not all that surprising. Cruise ships. Of course! Yes, all that stuff that people chuck off the boat ends up on gorgeous land like PezMaya.

I have heard it before, that there is a giant island of garbage floating in the pacific that measures twice the size of Texas. That trash is not all from cruise ships of course, but with hundreds of cruises sailing our seas, the garbage and sewage alone (I won't get into chemicals spills, and smog) is credited to polluting pristine beaches across the world. From beaches in California to Malaysia, to Cuba, cruise ships trash is a major issue.

Luckily, the EPA is making an effort to fight this. Just this month the EPA now requires cruises ships to have a clean water permit. Check it out, click here.

Have you had any similar experiences? Please share with us in the comment section.

All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume Thirty One

Stefanie — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:53:38 +0000

This entry is part 31 of 31 in the series all things eco

Welcome to the December 29th, 2008 edition of All Things Eco.

Be sure to Stumble the posts you like, or submit them to other social bookmarking services. Let's promote each other, as well as this blog carnival.

Sorry for the delay, I spent the day with my mom and didn't get a chance to post earlier! How was everyone's Christmas? Went well here. I don't want to leave at the end of the week Hopefully All Things Eco will start getting more submissions again once the holidays are over!

Myscha Theriault presents Going Green on the Road posted at Wise Bread. Myscha's article includes a number of good tips for traveling (which can also be used for every day).

Candy presents Culture, Community and Economy: The Upside of Shopping Locally posted at Carrie and Danielle. Need a few good reasons to shop locally? This article gives some great ones.

Travis A. Wittwer presents Happy Holidays with a Bakfiets-A-Tree-Kidden posted at EcoMetro Portland. From the article:

We have brought our experiment of living with bikes as a primary mode of transportation full circle. We started off tentative and over planned, and now we just pick up our bikes and go for there is no travel that is impossible. We even took on some of the snow this season.

AdmirableIndia.com presents Trip to Kanyakumari: Chapter 8: Nagaraja Temple, Nagercoil posted at AdmirableIndia.com.

Summer presents Recycle Your Used Wrapping Paper Into Special Thank You Cards posted at Eco Child's Play. A very cool idea.

VegBox Recipes presents Growing Our Own - update 1 from the new VegBox Garden posted at VegBox Recipes Blog. VegBox Recipes says, "This week, VegBox Recipes presented their first ever update from the new VegBox kitchen garden. No longer content with simply cooking local, seasonal and organic, now they want to grow it too. They provide links to useful resources and handy sources of information for other would-be 'grow your own-ers.'"

Chris Baskind presents How to Plan a "Green the Family" Meeting posted at Lighter Footstep.

Do you really want to green your home? You can’t do it alone. Here’s how to get the sort of family buy-in you need to make it work.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of All Things Eco using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Random Posts

Eco-Friendly Friday Tips Volume Twenty Nine

Stefanie — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:00:06 +0000

This entry is part 29 of 29 in the series Eco-Friendly Friday

December 26th's Tip

Christmas Tree Recycling: Recycling fresh trees after Christmas can make a huge difference in reducing holiday waste. Instead of taking up space in the landfill, trees can be ground into wood chips, which can be used to mulch gardens or parks, used for beachfront erosion prevention, lake and river shoreline stabilization, fish habitats, and river delta sedimentation management. Search Earth911 for local centers that accept trees for recycling.

If there is no program in your area, consider starting one. For more information, visit Earth911's How to Start A Christmas Tree Recycling Program. If tree recycling is not currently offered in your area, learn how to create a program by reading the Earth911 Guide to Starting a Christmas Tree Recycling Program.

For recycling your tree at home, consider creating beautiful wreaths out of the branches, or create fragrant sachets with the tree's pine needles. If you have the capability, you can turn your tree into mulch for your own compost pile. The mulch can also be used in your garden in the spring to help control the growth of weeds and prevent water loss.

Contribute

If you want to contribute a tip (and I know you do!), shoot us an email (don't post the tip in the comments!). Be sure to include your URL if you want a link to your site included with your tip!

Merry Christmas!!!

Stefanie — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:00:55 +0000

Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone gets to spend today enjoying their loved ones and being thankful for everything that they have. Now get off the computer and go spend time with your friends and family!

Random Posts

Wordless Wednesday - Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Stefanie — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:00:26 +0000

Random Posts

Natural Hair Loss Treatment?

Stefanie — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:08:02 +0000

I've found a number of "green" or "natural" products that have caught my attention and made me curious enough to try them out. Provillus is one that has me curious, but not one that I can test. It is a hair loss treatment that is supposed to be all natural, and that I've seen some pretty good reviews for. I can't test it for obvious reasons: I don't have hair loss problems and don't know anyone that does. Doesn't mean I can't research, though...

Provillus is available in two different formulations, one for men and one for women. The supplement part of men's Provillus is made from biotin (vitamin H), magnesium (as magnesium oxide), zinc (as zinc oxide), saw palmetto (which is apparently a fruit), and a propriety blend of all natural sources (a couple I don't recognize). The topical portion of the product is made from Minoxidil 5% w/v, an FDA approved hair regrowth drug. The supplement part of women's Provillus is made from vitamin B6, biotin, magnesium (as magnesium oxide), and a proprietary blend of horsetail silica and para-amino benzoid acid. The women's topical portion is made from Minoxidil 2% w/v.

Bioton, or vitamin H, is found in a variety of foods and is needed for cell regrowth. Magnesium oxide can be used for heartburn relief, for indigestion, and other stomach problems, so I'm not entirely sure of it's purpose in Provillus. Zinc oxide is a source of zinc, a necessary nutrient. Saw palmetto blocks effects of certain hormones and can work as an anti-inflammatory, but is not evaluated by the FDA. Vitamin B6 has a number of functions in the body including gene expression.

I don't know a whole lot about Minoxidil except that it can help regrow hair, and is better known as Rogaine. It apparently has a few side effects, such as skin irritation (which can occur with anything you put on your skin if your skin is sensitive to it), weight gain, low blood pressure, etc. I'd assume most of these only occur in minor amounts, but I haven't seen enough information to know. The level of Minoxidil in the men's formulation of Provillus is not safe for women.

So, is anyone else curious about this product? I'm curious as to it's effectiveness, and am planning to search for some more reviews. As of now, I've seen more good than bad. How safe is it? I'm not sure. I think I'd have to do more research on the ingredients and Minoxidil. A number of the ingredients may be naturally occurring, but their safety always depends on the levels of the ingredients, and their effect and reactions may be different for different people.

Random Posts

Yoga Paws - Get a Grip

Stefanie — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:00:21 +0000

While these may sound like a product for your agile pooch, Yoga Paws ($34.95) are something much different. Basically mitts that you wear on your hands and feet, Yoga Paws are meant to replace your yoga mat.

Tiny enough to fit in your purse or your glovebox, Yoga Paws are a great option for anyone who travels but still wants to maintain their yoga routine. They are a friendlier alternative to many yoga mats, which contain PVC. Yoga Paws are PVC-free, as well as latex and chloride free.

I'm not a Yogi myself, but I did get the chance to try Yoga Paws, and may very well end up trying more yoga. Our condo doesn't have a lot of free space, and Yoga Paws make it easy to stretch out, without space needed for a mat. For a limited time, orders of Yoga Paws include a free Yoga-Syz DVD, so even if you're also a newbie, you should have no problem starting to practice.

Focus Organic.com

All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume Thirty Two

You might also be interested in

Eco-Friendly Friday Tips Volume Thirty

January 2nd's Tip

Random Posts

Wordless Wednesday - Happy New Year's Eve!

Random Posts

Deserted Island in Mexico, Full of Trash

You might also be interested in

All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume Thirty One

Random Posts

Eco-Friendly Friday Tips Volume Twenty Nine

December 26th's Tip

Contribute

You might also be interested in

Merry Christmas!!!

Random Posts

Wordless Wednesday - Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Random Posts

Natural Hair Loss Treatment?

Random Posts

Yoga Paws - Get a Grip

You might also be interested in