Blog Action Day! 5 Less-Common Things You Can Do

As you may or may not know, today is Blog Action Day in honor of environmental issues. As a collective blogosphere, we may not be able to solve global warming or some other environmental problem, we do have the opportunity to educate people. One of my biggest reservations about blogging is that I sometimes feel like I'm "preaching to the converted." 90% of the time I probably am, but for that other 10% or for that person that stumbles across my blog through a web search, I hope that those people can walk away learning something. Recycling, hybrid cars, and global warming have gotten enough press and I'm sure topics like that will be talked about ad nauseum for Blog Action Day. So, for Blog Action Day, I decided to post a list 5 easy and less-common things one can do to help the environment. So here's my list:

1. Learn the common invasive plants in your yard and remove them. Start with Garlic Mustard, Ailanthus (AKA Tree of Heaven), Japanese Barberry, Japanese Knotweed, and Spotted Knapweed. Tell a neighbor.

2. Learn the names of 10 birds and share them with someone, especially a child. You never know what interest it might spark. I'll get you started with the most common in the northeast US: American Robin, European Starling, Mourning Dove, House Sparrow, House Finch, Black-capped Chickadee. That's more than halfway there! Here's an excellent resource for learning birds.

3. Consider the coffee you're drinking or, at least, the way you prepare and drink it. Start here. Serve some shade grown coffee at your next party!

4. Don't use bug zappers. Studies have shown that out of 10,000 insects killed over the course of one summer, only a few dozen were actually mosquitos or other biting insects. Use citronella or another natural repellent.

5. Let it grow! Pick a small area of your lawn and just let it go. Don't mow it. Resist the urge. In a short time, it will welcome insects, wildflowers, birds, toads, and many other interesting things. Be sure to keep down those invasives though as per #1.

New Blog on the Block!

Over the last few years, Beth and I have really tried to reduce our impact to the environment through recycling, eating organic foods, organic gardening, and other aspects. Beth has started a new blog, easyecoliving, to share EASY ways to be eco-friendly. So, please take some time to read the great posts she already has up and add her to your reading list. Thanks!

Recycle Those Shipping Materials

I'm sure that many of you, like me, abhor polystyrene packing peanuts. They take up space, pollute the environment, and the stupid static cling makes them stick to everything, especially your hands. I was especially annoyed when I realized that HSN uses these peanuts in their shipping. For a company that processes thousands of shipments per day to women (and maybe a couple men) around the country, you'd think they would be a little bit better about their environmental impact and perhaps switch to using biodegradeable cornstarch peanuts. I started thinking about other mail-order companies and, of course, Amazon.com came to mind. I'm a huge fan of Amazon and my packages always contain those little plastic airbags. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Amazon has a page dedicated to recycling their packaging materials. Those little plastic bags are actually recycleable. Who knew? They probably say "reycleable" right on them and I never noticed. They also mention that they use 100% recycled polystyrene peanuts, but they only use peanuts in 1% of their orders. For those instances, they give suggestions for how to recycle or reuse those peanuts. Nice! Meanwhile, I've written a letter to HSN to see if I can talk to someone about their packing material. The least they could do is to inform their customers as Amazon has done. We'll see if I can make any progress with this.