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See this life-changing doc in the library next Mon. after school!

What’s all the fuss about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)?  Is it evil or just sugar?  Well, the answer is “yes” to both.  It is a sweetener/preservative that acts upon the body just as sugar does.  However, the pervasiveness of it is what can be seen as potentially dangerous.

Don’t believe me?  See Food, Inc.  We’re showing it in the library:

Monday, March 1st

4:15-5:30-ish

If you are interested in what we eat and how it affects the planet – you have GOT to see this documentary.

There won’t be much time for discussion afterwards – so post your comments to our blog!

Did I mention that we’ll have healthy, real popcorn?  Bring your own drink.  I promise not to throw it away.

Don’t know what Food, Inc. is about?  See the trailer on the website.

A fine example of what you can expect to see at the Farmers Market.

We all know we should eat our fruits & veggies (rather, veggies & fruit) – not only is it essential for our health, but it’s better for the planet as well.

Lots of people have said this better than I, so I’ll defer to the latest.  Check out No Impact Man’s latest blog post.  To completely steal Michael Pollan’s words, do this (this isn’t plagarism as I’m citing my source!):

“If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”

Next time you buy packaged food, read the ingredients.  Is sugar or high-fructose-corn-syrup one of the major ingredients?  Can you pronounce the ingredients?  Do you even know what they are?

Don’t trust a major food manufacturer to have your best health interests at heart.  They want your money and they want your money a second time.  Thus, they market directly at you food that is, in some cases, designed to trigger certain “I must eat this” impusles in you.  It’s years of evolution at work when you reach for the second helping of sugary, fatty foods.  Eons ago, food like that was scarce so we have an instict to eat more – never know when that chance will come again!

Only thing is, in today’s world, sugary-fatty foods are common, not rarities.  Not to mention not good for us.

But back to the planet, as I lack agricultural expertise and the patience to write much longer, let me sum up: environmental eating is eating seasonal and locally grown when available.  This cuts down on transportation (emissions, people) of said non-local produce.  Eating seasonally ensures nature’s course is being followed.  Think of the variety! 

“By purchasing local foods in-season, you eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods thousands of miles, your food dollar goes directly to the farmer, and your family will be able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Buying seasonal produce also provides an exciting opportunity to try new foods and to experiment with seasonal recipes. And it simply tastes better!”

I took the above from the Sustainable Table’s website.  They have a cool feature that allows you to search your state and month to tell you exactly what’s in season and local!  Here’s what you should look for at the grocery store now.  Read the labels to find out where it’s grown.  Better yet, go to the Farmers Market where you KNOW it’s local.

If you’re at a loss as to how to cook or prepare these foods, stop by the library and check out a cookbook or talk to me, Ms. Glaser, I’m all about healthy eating!

So, long post, but this is a subject I’m truly passionate about.  I’ve even started getting my locally grown, seasonl produce delivered to my house via Greenling.  Sure, I may not get exactly what I want, but I think of it as a game.  How many ways can I prepare cabbage?  Turns out, 3 ways.

Happy eating~

totally Ms. Glaser at home

Next Sat., Jan. 23, IKEA is hosting a Clear Your Clutter event from 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. in parking lots G & H.  Bring your unwanted boxes, paper that needs shredding, old clothing and household items.  They’ll even take your hazardous materials such as paint, chemicals, gasoline, petroleum products and more.

What a great idea!

Bringing in hazardous materials sounds kind of scary, but I certainly don’t know how to dispose of it.  Apparently, the people at Junk Busters and Eco Box  do.

What do you have at home that you need to get rid of?  I have old clothes (always), a lamp I never use, a desk (can someone with a truck pick that up for me????), and various & sundry other stuff.

If you don’t spring clean this early, there’s always time later in the year.  I’m a firm believer that getting rid of the old makes way for the new.  Good things happen when you clear the junk out of your life, on many levels.

We hope everyone had a wonderful break from school, and you are back ready to renew your commitment to Going Green. 

I wanted to share with you guys some of the things our family is doing to reduce our carbon footprint.  For Christmas, I bought Mr. Bligh a tumbling composter and kitchen composting bin.  We did not realize how much organic waste we were throwing away almost on a daily basis.  I took some pictures of our first composting attempt to show you all how easy it is!  It really does make a difference in how much ends up in the landfill. 

According to our Read It Forward book Our Planet, “We throw away 96 billion lbs. of food a year.  That is more than a quarter of the food we produce ( 32)”.  I can’t imagine that we throw away 1/4 of the food we produce when there are so many starving people in the world.

We have plenty of books in the libray that discuss composting.  Stop by and start changing how much waste goes into our landfills. 

Have a great new year!!

Mrs. Bligh

Ms. Stelzel with her homemade Christmas cards

I’m so excited!  People are reading our Read it Forward (yay).  Today Heidi Stelzel came into the library just to tell us that Our Planet… inspired her to make her own Christmas cards.   What’s more, she’s using construction paper as envelopes!  She’s consumed almost ZERO new materials.  Most importantly, she chose to make each card special by enclosing a personalized note in each one.  I’m sure her family and friends will love them.

Not only are her cards green, but so are her gifts!  She went to her family’s favorite stores and bought everyone a shopping bag from that store.  It’s a thoughtful, practical and green gift that they can use all year long.

I know I love the shopping bag my friend gave me for my birthday.  Every time I whip it out in Whole Foods I think, “I know, even my shopping bag is cute.”

super cute shopping bag

Take some time to think about what you can do to have a green Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa (did I leave anything out?  let me know if I did)

Thank you, Heidi, for inspiring this post!

Goofy p.s. If you think about it, Rudolph with his shiny, solar-powered nose is pretty green himself.

How was everyone’s Thanksgiving?  Did you enjoy your free range turkey from a local farmer?  Locally grown fruits and vegetables?  I certainly tried, but at the mercy of my family in Dallas, I didn’t have much of a choice.

The minute I pulled up to my cousin’s house with the inflatable Cowboy helmet (this is Dallas, remember) in the front yard, I knew I made the right decision to move to Austin.   I told my brother, “I can’t believe they’re using energy to blow that thing up.” (it was inflatable like a bouncy house is inflatable)  He could hardly contain his disdain.

Whatever.

Glad to be back in Austin.

What waste did you see?  What could you do differently next Thanksgiving?

I just read in Our planet… that between Thanksgiving and New Year’s that Americans throw away nearly 2 billion lbs more garbage a week than at other times during the year.

O

M

G

Seriously?  That’s a lot of trash.  So, what can we do?  Here are a few suggestions the book mentions:

1. Wrap presents in newspaper.  Remember getting presents wrapped up in the funny papers when you were a kid?  (or is that just me?)  This strategy is two-fold, a. you’re using materials you already have and b. they can be recycled afterwards.

OK, now my brain is working overtime…perhaps we could have a gift wrapping recycling event of some kind at MN?  I wonder if there’s a way to weigh the wrapping paper we bring up, just to see how much waste the students at one school produce, and then recycle it all.  Hmmm…tell me your thoughts on this.

2. Anyone have a compost at home?  Composting the turkey day left-overs will help out.

3. Giving an e-card vs. traditional paper card is another option.  Americans purchase 7 billion greeting cards each year.  If none of them contained any recycled paper (which some do, try to buy those if you can), that would mean 2.5 million trees were chopped down to produce them.

3 quick tips for ya.  Do it for our future generation.  Speaking of which…here’s MN library’s new mascot: Carolina Rose Bligh.  Isn’t she beautiful???

Whoops – one more tip.  This is obvious considering the last post:

4. BUY VINTAGE!  What an opportunity to buy a one-of-a-kind brooch, hair clip, retro hat – whatever you can find – for a friend or family member.  Go to Buffalo Exchange or any number of vintage stores in Austin (check out the our main site for a list, under the “Keep MN Green” page).

Coming soon…an up-cycling craft fair at your favorite library.  Stay tuned for more details!

the lovely ladies of the Green Club - senior officers 2010

Shew!  MN’s first ever Vintage Fashion Show/Clothes Swap went very well!  The lovely ladies of the Green Club certainly didn’t seem like novices to the catwalk.  They strutted their Room Service stuff like nobody’s business.  As you can see for youself.

50s inspired, high-waistes skirt - too bad you can't see the shoes!

I like the way Gabbi walks!

Sheila brought back the ’70s in this dazzling silver number.  Check out the pleats.  Very Studio 54.

Whoops – you can’t see her lovely face (well, half of it).  Blame it on the poor photographer, that would be me.

Ms. Hendrix mc’d the event and embellished quite a bit when it came to describing our clothes.  Who knew that polyester’s heyday was after Kennedy’s assassination but before the Vietnam war was in full force?  I realize it’s flamable, but so is cotton!  And it doesn’t wrinkle (nor decompose in a timely fashion).  So polyester isn’t green, but buying recycled clothing is!

Alva gets into the spirit of things

Shea totally digs the clothes swap

Of course, the point of the show/swap was to promote recycled clothing, hence, our swap.  Shopping vintage reduces new production and transportation (pollution!) of said new production.  It’s also incredibly fashionable.  Who wants to look like everyone else?  Not me.

Students brought in gently used clothing and swapped it out for something “new” to them.  Think Buffalo Exchange.  I walked away with a black t featuring a totally rad eagle.  Very Bret of me, I know.  (did you notice in that pic he’s in the library?)

Ms. Hendrix really knows her stuff!

You’ll see our audience listening raptly to Ms. Hendrix as she goes over the ins & outs of vintage shopping in Austin. If you want a copy of the flyer, see our Keep MN Green page. 

Overall, I was happy with our event.  If you have suggestions for the future, or thoughts on yesterday, let me know!  Leave a comment.  I want to hear from you, as always.

Join us for MN’s first, to my knowledge, Vintage Fashion Show and Clothes Swap!

Our Green Club officers will model vintage clothing from Room Service in Austin (very cool of them to loan us their clothes).  After they strut their stuff, we’ll have a clothes swap! 

Bring in your gently used – but still fashionable- clothes and swap them out for something new to you.  This is oh-so-green because we are not consuming anything new, just recycling what is out there.

Details:

Wed., Nov. 11th

in the library

during all lunches

It should be F.U.N.  I’m bringing in some items I actually bought this summer from Buffalo Exchange.  They are 1. too small and, most importantly, 2. too young.  What was I thinking shopping in a store right off the Drag?  I’m almost 40 for God’s sake.

At any rate, be there or be

Dogs - can't help but love 'em!

As much as I love my dog (the Jack Russell on the left), I also have to think about the environment when it comes to feeding her as well as, ahem, picking up after her.  I don’t use regular plastic baggies.  It can take up to 100 years for plastic dog-waste bas to decompose.  Thus, I splurge for the biodegradable ones.

When it comes to food,  I don’t want my little 17-lb pup ingesting chemicals.  Therefore, I make a weekly trip to Whole Foods for organic, free range chicken thighs for her.  She gets just a little bit of chicken on top of her dry food.  (I slip her Prozac in it.)

Speaking of waste, in “Our planet…” they say that everytime we flush the toilet we use 2- 5 gallons of water.  “If everyone in America flushed one time less each day, we could save more than 500 million gallons of water a year.”

Just don’t try this at school (wink).

Are you a cat person?

If you have a cat, think about using a chemical-free, biodegradable litter that is made from renewable resources.  Green Little Cat has some info on that.

Any other ideas for greening up your cat or dog?