The Bees:

Since the cause of colony collapse disorder (CCD) is still being debated by bee keepers, researchers, and scientists we unfortunately can do little to help with the solution.  However, we do know when these kind of crises occur, it is always the small scale operations that are hit the hardest.

So, what can you do?  Support small, local bee keepers by purchasing their products.

The Birds:

We do know the causes (and there are quite a few) of the sharp decline of common backyard birds and fortunately we are able to still act to help.  The best overall resource is the National Audubon Society.  They are a terrific organization that has been around in one form or another since the 1800′s.  This is a list of things you can do straight from their site:

Protect Local Habitat
Join local Audubon Chapters and other groups to protect and restore habitats close to home. Audubon’s Important Bird Areas program offers opportunities to save critical bird habitat, from small land parcels to broad landscapes.

Promote Sound Agricultural Policy
This has enormous impact on grassland birds and habitat. Promoting strong conservation provisions in the federal Farm Bill and Conservation Reserve Program can help to protect millions of acres of vital habitat.

Support Sustainable Forests
The Boreal Forest in the Northern U.S. and Canada is essential breeding territory for many species of birds. Federal and state legislations promoting sustainable forest management will help fight habitat loss from inappropriate logging, mining, and drilling.

Protect Wetlands
Support for local, state and federal wetlands conservation programs is essential to protect a wide array of species. Learn more.

Fight Global Warming
Declining birds populations is just one impact of global warming’s mounting threat to people and wildlife around the world. Individual energy conservation along with strong federal, state, and local legislation to cap greenhouse emissions can help to curb its worst consequences. Learn more.

Combat Invasive Species
Invasive non-native species disrupt the delicate ecological balance that sustains birds and other wildlife. Federal, regional, state, and local regulations are needed to combat this growing environmental threat. Learn more. The Audubon At Home program also offers tips for supporting birds with native plants.

The Audubon Society also has a page called Healthy Yard.  It is a great interactive picture that allows you to hover over aspects of it, such as the bird feeder and click through to find out more information, such as:

In the United States, 54 million people FEED BIRDS around their home. Tens of thousands participate in citizen science projects, conducting bird censuses in their own backyards to help ornithologists track population trends.

I found it very accessible and helpful.  It is also a great activity that you can do with your kids and then together you can pick a project to work on.  Encouraging your kids to be informed and be a part of the solution empowers them and teaches them to be actively involved in the world.  If you are looking for more birding activities to do with your children, the Audobon Society has a space on their site dedicated to children’s education.

In addition to/with emphasis on here are my own tips to keeping those crazy birds around:

1. Condensed urban living is the way to go to combat urban sprawl.  The less land we bulldoze, cover with cement, lots of houses, and perfectly manicured lawns the better.
2. SHARE.  Whether you live in a house or an apartment transform your yard or the area surrounding your apartment into a healthy living space for birds and other animals (again I will point you to Audubon’s Healthy Yard).  Remember that much of being a good steward and being a part of a healthy ecosystem means having biological diversity within our shared space.  It is not OK or healthy to move into a habitat once occupied by many species and transforming it into a controlled and sterile environment.  So, make room for the birds and other creatures.  We can have our space and they theirs.
3. Do a little research on what birds are native to your area (look online or check a book out of the library).  They buy or make a bird feeder filled with food for those birds.  It is important that you keep your bird full of clean food.  Birds will come to depend on this food, especially in the winter, so please keep it stocked.  Also, do not feed birds moldy bread or seeds, this will make birds sick when they eat it and try to get or make a squirrel proof feeder.  As a side note, if you do the research of birds in your area with your kids they can begin to look out for those birds.  Encourage them to draw the birds, their feathers, the eggs, what kind of nests they have, and even what they eat.  Some kids may even want to keep a journal recording their bird encounters.

A few resources:

Books

Feeding Our Feathered Friends by Dean T. Spaulding

The Backyard Bird Feeder’s Bible by Sally Roth

Make Your Own Bird Houses and Feeders by Robyn Haus

Sites

Important Bird Areas Program

Audubon At Home

The Crafty Crow: Feed the Birds and Wild Bird Treats

Mongabay

Birds in Backyards

Mary’s View

Make and Craft have a lot of tutorials on making your own bird feeder

Build A Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder for Under $10

Co-op America also has a great article on sweat shop free clothing.

Here is a list of some basic tips:

1. Buy local.  Not only does this support your local economy, but you get to know the person creating the product and you can ask them as many questions as you like about their practices.  This goes for anything from food to clothing.  The clothing will more than likely be more expensive because it is handmade, but it guarantees that the product that wasn’t made in a sweatshop.  Etsy is a fun site to check out for handmade goods.
2. Buy used products.  Go to a thrift store or local consignment shop and look around.  You will find some great deals.
3. Research the companies you are buying from.
4. Look for a UNITE label.

It is important to note that none of these can guarantee that the entire product was made in a fair trade facility.  Most products are assembled from pieces made all over the world and a Made in America label could mean that only the finishing touches were put on in America (like buttons).  However, following these guidelines is still important.  It is just not a perfect solution to the social justice issues of labor practices.

Here are a few more helpful resources in your search for responsible shopping:

No Sweat Apparel

Co-op America’s National Green Pages

Green Home’s Products Page

Fair Green Trade

The Green Earth Directory

Finally, I would like to leave you with an interesting article on Portland, OR, a city that is attempting to go sweatshop free.

Opponents of this proposal have said that it taxes those who cannot afford to purchase reusable bags. So to alleviate that cost, the city of Seattle will distribute reusable paper bags to all residents, also giving lower income residents additional bags to use.

The council also passed a ban on plastic foam food containers that is a two-phase project. The first phase will address take out containers and it will take effect in January as well. Restaurants will not be allowed to use plastic foam in their takeout containers. The second phase will take effect July 2010 and focuses on all plastic food containers and utensils. Businesses will be able to use only recyclable or biodegradable products for their food containers.

I’m glad to see that our city is taking steps to reduce the unnecessary waste produced by convenience. If you live in a place that is using plastic bags and you feel like you want to make changes to that, Bring Your Own Bag is a great organization that is fighting for that. They also recently posted to their blog specifically addressing the situation in North America.

Working on my Undergrad degree has been a broken trail for me as I have steadily committed to give it a place of importance, but never wanted it to be The Most Important piece in my very full life. There are other things that I have come before and will always come before my formal education. That being said, it has over the years remained important to me to graduate with a Bachelors degree and because of this I made a return to school last September. I am now attending University of Washington and it has been a very positive experience and I am very much enjoying this part of my life. There are some changes to my schooling habits that I have made upon my return that I would like to share with you.
In the spirit of ecological responsibility at universities around the world, I now present you with NOTES on Environmental Changes for Students (or anyone really):

1. Travel Mug filled with: fair trade, organic tea; fair trade, organic, decaf coffee; or fair trade organic hot chocolate. So, good. Drinking a warm beverage is lovely on these cold, wet Seattle days.
   • Produces less waste than disposable cups
   • On campus they have a Tully’s that only uses fully compostable cups. However, unless you actually put these cups (like any compostable products) in your compost they are not compostable.
   • It provides a lovely treat while sitting in class or studying.
2. Bring a refillable water bottle
3. Take public transportation (or of course walk, bike, or carpool)
4. Rebinders
5. Recycled notebook paper
6. Take notes on my computer through WordPress (how to below):
   • Install a webserver on your laptop. It’s easier than you think. There are packages that make it easy to install and setup (MAMP for a Mac and WAMP for a PC).
   • Create a database using the tools installed with either MAMP or WAMP.
   • Install WordPress. There will be some manual text editing you need to do for setup, but it’s minimal.
   • Create categories for each of your classes.
   • Start a new post for each class session.

   When you use this method of taking notes, you can easily look back at past class periods by date, and also there is a search function installed by default. If you run into trouble, my husband has offered assistance to those who need some direction. You can get in touch with him over at his company web site Vigilanteweb.

7. Print only when a Professor requires a hard copy of an assignment and print on both the front and back of each paper.
   To print on the front and back from my computer I:
   1. Press Print
   2. Within the Print Detail page select Paper Handling
   3. Select “Print Odd Numbered Pages”
   4. Print
   5. Place either the single sheet or stack of printed pages face down in the paper tray with the bottom of the page closest to me in.
   6. Repeat steps 1 and 2
   7. Select “Print: Even Numbered Pages” and “Page Order: Reverse”
8. Buy used Text Books. There are plenty out there already and they are usually cheaper. You can also check text books out of the library instead of buying it. A final suggestion is to book share. If you have a reliable classmate it may work out for you to share a text book and split the cost. Everyone has their own study habits and you know what works best for you.

If anyone else has tips feel free to share them through comments!

This past July Kendall and I got rid of our car. We had been thinking about doing it for about a year. It began around the time we decided to move to Seattle. One of the many reasons this move has been so good for us is because it has given us the opportunity to start from scratch in so many ways. We are getting to decide what we want our life to look like and make decisions based on that.

Part of the reason we wanted to live a car-free life (besides the obvious environmental reasons) is because we are in the process of creating a life that reflects our values and part of that means that our regular life is not one that we dread coming home to after a vacation. We want to have a life that we don’t constantly feel the need to have a break from. Giving away our car is part of our commitment to slow down and to live a sustainable life. That means living within our means–financially, environmentally, and overall within the energy that we have instead of daily moving deeper into debt. It’s too hard to live under increasing debt of any kind and to us it is just not worth it.

So, when the lease on our car was up we turned in the key and walked home. Now we walk, bus, and occasionally use a flexcar. We live within our community. We run less errands. Consume less. Spend more time outside. Decide if something we want is worth the energy output to get it. Most of the time we end up making do with what we have and are really glad we did so.

Citrus peel extract is an excellent choice against fleas for dogs, because its components d-limonene and linalool kill all stages of the flea’s life cycle. I have completely eradicated our home and dogs of fleas using citrus peel extract I don’t think anything else works as well. Still, you must use caution: while it is a natural material, and much safer for health and the environment than toxic synthetic pesticides, it is not without problems, especially for asthmatics (see Caution below). Citrus shouldn’t be used around cats.

SIMPLE SOLUTION: For Fleas from and on Dogs
Assuming you don’t own a cat, and you keep your windows open when using citrus peel extract products, get rid of fleas in your house by washing floors twice a week with a solution of 1/4 cup citrus peel extract (available in health food stores–citra solve is one brand) in 1 to 2 gallons of water. Spray bedding with a mixture of 2 teaspoons citrus peel extract and 2 cups of water in a spray bottle.To make a fur rub for the dog, cut up 4 lemons, and simmer for one hour in 1 quart of water, adding more water as it evaporates. Cool the mixture, strain, and massage into the dog’s coat. Note that there are a number of pure citrus-peel-based pet products on the market (see Shop for Supplies, below).For Cats *and* Dogs
Herbal repellents work well to repel fleas. Make an herbal infusion by adding a handful of dried herbs (available in most health food stores) to a tea pot and fill with boiling water. Let the tea set overnight, and then strain it into a spray bottle. Recommended herbs include southernwood, rue, rosemary, sage, catmint, eucalyptus, and leaves from the black walnut tree. Start with just a small amount to make sure the pet can tolerate the herb.

Boric acid and borax are also widely used against fleas. Sprinkle a thin powder or boric acid or borax on carpets, leave on for a few days, and then vacuum up.

Other Flea Controls

• Feed your dogs (but not cats) garlic and yeast.
• Wash your pets frequently.
• Use a flea comb.
• Make your own flea shampoo.
• Use a natural flea collar.

HELPFUL HINTS: Caution

• One controversial study found that when fed extremely high doses of d-limonene, male rats developed cancer. There was no evidence that it did so in female rats or in mice of either sex.
• Citrus-peel extract is a strong volatile organic chemical (VOC). Make sure you use adequate ventilation when using. Asthmatics should not use this approach.
• Don’t use pennyroyal around pets, especially pregnant pets or people.
• Avoid pet’s eyes when using any of the above recommended ingredients.

1. Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.

2. Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, www.batteryrecycling.com.

3. Cardboard boxes: Contact local nonprofits and women’s shelters to see if they can use them. Or, offer up used cardboard boxes at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org for others who may need them for moving or storage. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.

4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they’ll work like new: 888/454-3223, www.auraltech.com.

5. Clothes: Wearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. Donate wearable women’s business clothing to Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs, 212/532-1922, www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes and towels to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding. Consider holding a clothes swap at your office, school, faith congregation or community center. Swap clothes with friends and colleagues, and save money on a new fall wardrobe and back-to-school clothes.

6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: www.ikea.com.

7. Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won’t be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at www.findacomposter.com.

8. Computers and electronics: Find the most responsible recyclers, local and national, at www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html.

9. Exercise videos: Swap them with others at www.videofitness.com.

10. Eyeglasses: Your local Lion’s Club or eye care chain may collect these. Lenses are reground and given to people in need.

11. Foam packing: Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept foam peanuts for reuse. Or, call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop-off site: 800/828-2214. For places to drop off foam blocks for recycling, contact the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers, 410/451-8340, www.epspackaging.org/info.html

12. Ink/toner cartridges: Recycleplace.com pays $1/each.

13. Miscellaneous: Get your unwanted items into the hands of people who can use them. Offer them up on your local Freecycle.org or Craigslist.org listserv, or try giving them away at Throwplace.com or giving or selling them at iReuse.com. iReuse.com will also help you find a recycler, if possible, when your items have reached the end of their useful lifecycle.

14. Oil: Find Used Motor Oil Hotlines for each state: 202/682-8000, www.recycleoil.org.

15. Phones: Donate cell phones: Collective Good will refurbish your phone and sell it to someone in a developing country: 770/856-9021, www.collectivegood.com. Call to Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims: www.donateaphone.com. Recycle single-line phones: Reclamere, 814/386-2927, www.reclamere.com.

16. Sports equipment: Resell or trade it at your local Play It Again Sports outlet, 800/476-9249, www.playitagainsports.com.

17. Technotrash: Easily recycle all of your CDs, jewel cases, DVDs, audio and video tapes, cell phones, pagers, rechargeable and single-use batteries, PDAs, and ink/toner cartridges with GreenDisk’s Technotrash program. For $30, GreenDisk will send you a cardboard box in which you can ship them up to 70 pounds of any of the above. Your fee covers the box as well as shipping and recycling fees. 800/305-GREENDISK, www.greendisk.com.

18. Tennis shoes: Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring. www.nikereuseashoe.com. One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti. www.oneworldrunning.com.

19. Toothbrushes and razors: Buy a recycled plastic toothbrush or razor from Recycline, and the company will take it back to be recycled again into plastic lumber. Recycline products are made from used Stonyfield Farms yogurt cups. 888/354-7296, www.recycline.com.

20. Tyvek envelopes: Quantities less than 25: Send to Shirley Cimburke, Tyvek Recycling Specialist, 5401 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Spot 197, Room 231, Richmond, VA 23234. Quantities larger than 25, call 866/33-TYVEK.

21. Stuff you just can’t recycle: When practical, send such items back to the manufacturer and tell them they need to manufacture products that close the waste loop responsibly.

This is a story of a series of innocent mistakes becoming one big disgusting mess, and how, with help, Kendall and I were able to save our compost from the trash and our trash from the freezer.

We started the compost bin for a lot of really good reasons, but I was squeamish of worms and this was the beginning of things going bad because it led to mistake number one, neglecting the bin. Mistake number two was adding too many food scraps into one bin. It is something that many of us try to do in too many parts of our life–try to pack something too big in a package that is too small. A few victims of this are the bikini, storage lockers, to-do lists, that super cute pair of shoes that is half off, and…my compost bin. I should have learned that when I was having to put my full body weight on the lid to get it to close that I needed to figure out a new plan. Instead I continued on and unfortunately so does the list of mistakes.

These are my mistakes listed out as best as I could list such a complicated mess:

1. Overall neglect of the bin–I got really excited about starting and not so excited or into maintaining it.
2. Adding too many food scraps to one bin.
3. Our CSA share was too large for us to eat and we were regularly adding whole pieces of uneaten, rotten produce.
4. Major fruit fly infestation from neglect.
5. Standing liquid from the decomposing produce and rain water (which we hadn’t accounted for when we put the bin outside to save our apartment from the fruit flies), and not adding any newspaper to keep the moisture level in balance.
6. We began turning it too often in a desperate attempt to do something to save it.
7. Not enough oxygen circulation.

So, what we ended up with was a bin with worms, standing vegetable/fruit/rain water, rotting food, fruit flies, maggots, and to top it off it smelled like feces. I don’t think it was possible for my compost to become a more nauseating bin of nastiness. We had just moved into a new apartment when the bin really started to go downhill. I was so embarrassed to be caught by my neighbors with the lid open, the foul fecal odor thick in the air, fruit flies swarming out all around me, and the swamp of rotting food; yet, out of pure determination I continued to open the lid and add my food scraps.

The situation got so bad that Kendall gently said to me that he thought our compost bin was a goner. We talked about throwing it out and starting over, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do that. There was a Seattle Tilth brochure that Kendall had picked up a couple of weeks ago about composting and it had a hotline number to call. Each time I called I talked to someone who was helpful, kind, and patient. They really want you to succeed in composting and for it to be something that over time just becomes a regular part of your life.

Here is the information that they shared with me that saved our compost:

1. Stop adding food scraps to our bin until we got the problem under control. We didn’t want to throw our food scraps away so we put them in a garbage bag in our freezer.
2. We needed to buy more worms and start a second bin. We were adding too many food scraps and the worms couldn’t eat through it all. Now, I rotate bins. I will have one bin function as my active bin for a couple of weeks while the other one rests.
3. We needed to drill holes in the bottom of both bins, buy 2 more bins to stack underneath the compost bins to catch the “compost tea” which would now begin to drain. All the food we were adding had a lot of moisture in it and so when the food started to break down the moisture left the food and was trapped in the bin. Putting the bin outside made the moisture problem worse because of how damp Seattle is. The worms stopped eating the food because they were drowning. Tip: When it is time to dump the bucket of nutrient-rich “tea” you can dilute it with water and use it to water your plants or your garden.
4. Stop turning the compost so often. While this does speed up the composting, this process creates a lot of heat and, therefore, creating a perfect environment for larva (maggots) and other critters. Compost bins are little ecosystems so there are going to be some critters especially if you have an outdoor bin, but it should not be overrun with them.
5. Start layering the compost bin with newspaper. The worms don’t like to live in the same place they eat. The newspaper layer gives them somewhere to go. This also helps with the fruit fly problem. Now I always make sure the food scraps are covered by a layer of newspaper. So, I either add it under an already existing layer of newspaper or add more if it is time.
6. Go on a fruit fly killing spree. It is important to get the fruit fly population under control because they multiply so quickly. I went outside with my spray bottle of cleaner and a rag and killed as many as I could. It is also important to keep the outside of the bins and the “tea” bin really clean in order to cut off their food supply. So, for a couple of days or weeks you will just really need to be on top of it pristine. We started slacking before we should have and the problem came back. Can you tell we have a problem with follow-through?
7. Crack open the lids a bit to let oxygen in. I open my lids in the evening for a couple of hours. This helps with the fruit flies, the smell, and the composting of the food. Oxygen is an important part of composting. Without oxygen decomposition will slow down as much as 90%.

I now have two very healthy compost bins and couldn’t be happier about it. This has been such a great learning process for me and the care I have put into restoring it has even managed to create an affection for my worms and the role they play in keeping my ecosystem balanced and healthy. The biggest thing that I learned is that composting isn’t difficult, but that it is important to keep the contents in balance–if it is too wet, then, make it drier with drainage holes and dry newspaper; if it is too dry, then, add wet newspaper; there needs to be a balance between the worms and the food scraps; and just like all of us it needs room to breathe.

Having a compost bin doesn’t take a lot of work. However, it does need to be maintained and whenever I have begun to slack on this I am revisited by old compost problems.

Oh, and after canceling our CSA and going to the Farmer’s Market instead I found a new farmer who is starting a compost pile and would love to take the trash in my freezer off my hands!

I hope none of you are in need of saving your compost bin, but if you do and are able to be patient and give it a little extra care for while it is possible to rescue even the most hopeless bins.

I feel like I am working to make changes to my life and that I am very conscious of living a life that reflects my values. Taking tests like these ones though can sometimes make me feel like I am failing at doing that.

Then I remember that I am a work in progress.

These tests are good to take because they give me a reality check. I am still using more resources than one person should use. Hence, the 2.6 planets. However, it is important to remember that they don’t look at the details of the whole picture. They aren’t meant to. They are meant to be short and easy (so people will actually be willing to take them) and to give you a general idea of the impact you are making. I think that they are good for serving this purpose. I do have a ways to go, but I have also come very far. When I first took one of those tests a couple of years ago I was at around 7 planets. So, when I remember that, I realize how far I have come. There are still many changes I can and need to make. And…there are also a lot that I have already made while walking this path that have indeed made a big difference.

I will continue to use these tests to mark my progress, point me in the right direction, AND I will remember that they don’t tell the whole story.

Off to continue my journey.

Ingredients:

1. Get outside, sweat, and catch every breeze you can.
2. Sit, lay, sleep, rest, read, and chat under the shade of a tree.
3. Water. Drinks lots of it and find some body of water to swim, splash, sit, or dangle your feet in. We took a walk to The Sound and dipped our feet in the deliciously, cold, clear water.
4. Enjoy little treats. Make some iced tea. Eat popsicles and ice cream/frozen yogurt. Fill up on cucumber sandwiches and slices of watermelon.
5. Go on a long, slow, gentle walk visiting your favorite places.
6. Adjust your attitude. Come to terms with the fact that you are just. going. to. be. hot. When you try to fight weather you lose. If you live in Seattle you just know that you are going to get wet, everyone is. Just put on a rain jacket and keep going about your life. It is not the end of the world to have frizzy, rain jacket hair or wet legs. If you live in Texas just know that you are going to be hot, everyone is. If you try to fight it you are going to be miserable and you. are. going. to. lose. Cranking air conditioners is only going to keep making the world warmer (Ahem…global warming and we all know how that is going to turn out.)
7. Cool off before bed with a short “slow cool” rinse. This means you start off with luke warm water and continue to make it colder until it is as cold as you can stand it. Dry off. Get in bed.

Directions:

1. Slowly combine the ingredients* above on a hot, summer day along with a generous amount of (aluminum-free) deodorant and (paraben-free) sunblock. Continue to mix until the days become cooler.

*Add more of the ingredients you love and adjust the mixture to your environment. If you have to stay indoors to work replace going outside with opening ALL your windows and doors, add some Jon Mellencamp music, and mix in as many of the ingredients as possible.