Nan Hawthorne made a good point in response to my post about the donut soap featured at the Cedarbrook Lodge: Isn’t a liquid soap the greenest of all because there’s no waste? I didn’t know the answer, but found this article by Eric Bartels of Pamplin Media Group that explores that whole question: “Liquid soap vs. bar soap”. He concludes “… bar soap is the clear winner on the sustainability front.”
On October 13, 2011, The Environmental Center (Bend, OR) will present its second annual Sustainability Awards, honoring businesses, organizations and individuals that are leading the way to a sustainable future in Central Oregon. Awards will be presented in four categories: Small Business (10 or less employees), Large Business (more than 10 employees), Organization (government and nonprofits), and Individual. Applications are accepted Aug. 1-31.
Visit the FAQ page for more info.
Download applications for awards.
A year ago I wrote about discovering an organic version of Preen weed preventer that I was going to try in my vegetable garden. It utilizes corn gluten to prevent weeds. I applied it last July, and it did do a pretty good job of preventing new weeds among my lettuce, beans and peas, so I was happy. Until this spring, when in a OSU Master Gardeners ™ advanced training class I learned about some recent research on the effectiveness of corn gluten. We master gardeners are all about science and what is proven to work. As professor Linda Chalker of Washington State University explains in this cogent summary, researchers found corn gluten can be effective against new weeds in controlled conditions, but it is no more effective than good mulching, which is a LOT cheaper. And corn gluten isn’t very effective in the Western US if applied in the spring when conditions are moist. A five-pound container of organic Preen costs $15 at Home Depot. If you have materials like grass clippings, sawdust, or bark on hand, you can gain as much benefit by mulching well with those.
Just back from Chicago after spending Mother’s Day with my mother. It was a beautiful time to visit at the Morton Arboretum. Flowering trees, shrubs, daffodils and tulips all in bloom. After the very cold spring here in Central Oregon — the coldest April in about 30 years — this was especially delightful.
Now finally it is warming up. Time to get my own garden ready.
Redbud trees are in bloom in the background, with daffodils and jonquils filling the meadow in foreground. Photo by Ed Hedborn, thanks to mortonarb.org. Go to their site to see more.
I had 15 yards of garden soil (2/3 sandy loam, 1/3 organic mushroom compost) delivered a couple of weeks ago for my planned vegetable garden expansion to create a second 20 x 20 raised plot. I’ve rented a tractor, and this weekend my friend David who knows how to drive one (he grew up in Texas, which explains a few other things about him as well, like his love of country music) is coming over to place boulders to form my plot, and fill it with the garden soil.
Meanwhile, in my original plot, this week I’m planting my cold-tolerant seeds and starts: lettuces, spinach, carrots, radishes, asparagus crowns, seed potatoes, beets, chard, and several kinds of peas.
When the soil in the new plot is warm enough (I’m investing in a soil thermometer), the more tender veggies will go there: tomatoes, eggplant, squash, beans, corn, peppers and more.
It’s one thing to build a green house: solar PV, solar hot water, sustainably harvested framing, recycled wood fiber & cement blocks for exterior, metal roof, recycled decking, efficient windows, no-VOC paint, permeable driveway, Dark Sky exterior lighting. We’ve done all that.
But on a day-to-day basis, what you do inside matters too. Toxics abound, hidden in seemingly innocuous household products and food containers. Unlike foods, cleaners are not required to bear ingredient labels, so it can be hard to know what you’re getting. This great checklist from the Environmental Working Group tells you not only what to avoid, but safer alternatives to choose.
Disturbing news today that genetically modified alfalfa has been approved. If you are a horse owner (like me) then of course you care if you feed alfalfa. But if you’re an urban dweller, you should care because of biotech contamination. What’s that? It is what happens in farm fields every day. Fields of crops attract pollinators and birds, who range widely, spreading seeds from one place to another, just as the wind does. Therefore, if a field of organic corn, for example, is near a field of genetically modified corn, wind, pollinators and birds can contaminate the organic field with seeds of modified corn. And what if that modified alfalfa might be growing near a wheat field that’s a source for flour you use in cooking? Read more about it.
At a recent stay at a Seattle hotel — Cedarbrook Lodge, I highly recommend it, read my review (scroll down to Jan E.) — I encountered a product that was new to me, Green Natura soap. What’s new about soap? This soap is shaped like an oval donut. Yes, with a hole.
What’s the point of that? To quote the packaging, “This innovative ergonomically shaped waste-reducing soap has been designed to eliminate the unused center of traditional soap bars.” The label goes on to say the soap has no animal fats or byproducts.
The packaging, too, is green in that it’s made from recycled paper with soy ink. (Of course the fact that there is packaging at all is NOT green.) Whether soap with a hole is in fact less wasteful for hotels is debatable (see a discussion). I can attest that the peculiar shape is easy to hold onto (although “ergonomic” seems a bit of a stretch). The exfoliating soap felt like most oatmeal soaps, but richer. The same manufacturer also provided a smaller facial soap shaped like a leaf (no oatmeal).
These soaps are sold online for about $1 a bar at the web sites of hotels managed by Xanterra Parks & Resorts, such as Yellowstone National Park’s..
I’m going to the Tour of Solar Homes today to see if I can discover new ways we can live more lightly on the planet. This year it’s free for the first time, a welcome development.
The state of California now is encouraging motorists to abandon the old change-oil-every-3,000-miles standard, saying it’s wasteful, unnecessary for newer cars, and aggravates the oil disposal problem. To be a greener driver, use engine oil longer.
Oregon State University’s extension service, like all aspects of state government, is facing budget cuts and looking at ways to reduce expenses, including layoffs. I want efficient government as much as the next person, but cutting back a free service on which so many farmers, ranchers, growers, 4-H kids and ordinary backyard gardeners rely would be a mistake. The extension service promotes sustainability across many dimensions: conserving water, building soil health, promoting integrated pest management and reducing use of pesticides, supporting the local food movement, and distributing research-based, scientifically proven information about how to grow crops and gardens and raise animals in ways that are good for the planet. AND IT’S ALL FREE!
The university (and state government generally) should be focused on streamlining its layers of management and bloated bureaucracy, not reducing services rendered directly to taxpayers.
This article on bendbulletin.com addresses the impact here in the High Desert.
High Desert Green 