But I promise to get it back soon!
You’ve probably noticed that this is the first time I’ve posted in a few weeks and I truly apologize for that. It has really been one of those summers that I can not force myself to be inside any longer than I have to be!
All 3 H’s have been in full effect in Boston for the past 4-6 weeks -- Hazy, Hot & Humid -- and I have to confess, I am loving it! Summer is definitely my favorite season, with warm temps that mean no socks, plenty of time at the beach, the smell of salt air, road trips with Matt and wide open windows, it really is tough to beat.
The problem of course is that makes it very tough to concentrate. Then throw in: painting jobs for Chucka Stone Designs, completing the edits and beginning to query agents for my full length manuscript, some new sewing inspirations for my Etsy shop, writing an article every couple weeks for the EcoEtsy team blog, and the chance to see a good friend who just moved back into town.
All of the above equal time of course, so the thing that had to fall off the back end was writing posts for Green Leaf Reviewer. Sorry loyal readers but if there is one thing I know about all of you its that not only do you understand but most of you are out enjoying your warmest season too! That is awesome and I truly hope you all have a super fun time doing whatever it is you’re doing. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know in fact!
I do promise not to take the rest of the summer off, there will be posts here and there when something amazing, cool, awesome, fun, funky or loveable passes across my desk, but it will definitely be sporadic until September.
Here are some of the amazing things I’ve been lucky enough to experience this summer.
Enjoy the few weeks we have left and I’ll see you all on the flip side!
Showing posts with label eco-travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eco-travel. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tradeoff Question
This week I am working at a client’s home doing their ceiling painting. Most of you know I run my own business in the realm of home decoration and I wanted to take on this project as it helps me to spread the word abut how even in my profession we can be more environmentally responsible.
I wash only once (at the end of the day), wrap rollers and brushes when possible (for use again later), retain as many materials as possible and scrape as much paint as I can out of the tools before washing them. Not to mention I use the lowest available VOC / odor, water based, latex paints on the market and cloth drop cloths instead of paper.
Moving a drop around during the day may take a few extra minutes than taping down some paper to the floor but I’d rather be the painter who works an extra day than the one who leaves a job with a whole bag full of waste!
But I feel like there is an issue with the way I get there.
Many people have heard about the traffic nightmare that is Boston during rush hour. To give an example, I live just three or so miles north of the city and in the morning it would take me roughly 35 minutes to get through downtown. Yeah, it can be bad.
The job I am doing is on the other side of the city, south, in Dedham. There are two main ways for me to get there: straight through the city on 93 south or a bit around the way west then south from route 2 to 128 south. Mapquest indicates that going 93 or 128 is only 26 miles.
But going 93 means I sit in traffic inside a tunnel while 128 is a wide open road.
Now mapquest also has another route that would get me there in 15 miles. Judging by the routes I would take, at that hour of the day I estimate my commute would be in the neighborhood of 1-1/2 hours.
So what is the best solution when the shortest miles means longer time in the car?
I wash only once (at the end of the day), wrap rollers and brushes when possible (for use again later), retain as many materials as possible and scrape as much paint as I can out of the tools before washing them. Not to mention I use the lowest available VOC / odor, water based, latex paints on the market and cloth drop cloths instead of paper.
Moving a drop around during the day may take a few extra minutes than taping down some paper to the floor but I’d rather be the painter who works an extra day than the one who leaves a job with a whole bag full of waste!
But I feel like there is an issue with the way I get there.
Many people have heard about the traffic nightmare that is Boston during rush hour. To give an example, I live just three or so miles north of the city and in the morning it would take me roughly 35 minutes to get through downtown. Yeah, it can be bad.
The job I am doing is on the other side of the city, south, in Dedham. There are two main ways for me to get there: straight through the city on 93 south or a bit around the way west then south from route 2 to 128 south. Mapquest indicates that going 93 or 128 is only 26 miles.
But going 93 means I sit in traffic inside a tunnel while 128 is a wide open road.
Now mapquest also has another route that would get me there in 15 miles. Judging by the routes I would take, at that hour of the day I estimate my commute would be in the neighborhood of 1-1/2 hours.
So what is the best solution when the shortest miles means longer time in the car?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Everything Green Living Book
About three weeks ago at my local Barnes and Noble I quite by accident stumbled across this book and wow am I ever happy I did! The Everything Green Living Book is a thorough guide with oodles of pertinent information, but it is written in a very easy to understand voice making it a fantastic resource for not only a beginner but an expert looking for a few new tips or tricks. The cover caught my eye immediately, due to the words Green Living, and as I continued to visually scan it, I noticed the recycling symbol in the upper left corner. This book is printed on 100% post consumer waste paper. Hooray! I was intrigued and began to flip through.
There are twenty chapters, 277 pages of jam packed information, covering everything from the world as it stands now through how to be environmentally responsible even when we die. The foreword is written by Christopher J. Maron, Program Director of the Adirondack, NY Nature Conservancy and he encourages adopting our own conservation ethic. Flipping the page, prior to even viewing the Introduction, there is a list of Ten things each person will take away after pouring through this book and the final one caught my eye “If you take an ecovacation, you’ll be helping the environment while supporting a local economy and having a great time.” Again, this piqued my interest but I was determined to read through the Introduction before going back to the table of contents to scan for the chapter containing information on ecovacations.
Upon reading the Introduction I chuckled as it clearly states “Many people may be surprised at what topic piques their interest.” I was not as much surprised as I was curious what advice this book would include for taking an ecovacation so as I completed the Introduction, I flipped right over to Chapter Thirteen, Vacations and Travel. The thirteen pages in this chapter review terms, pros, cons, how to do it, parks (in the United States), souvenirs, festivals and stay-cations. Included are questions, facts, tips and alerts in separate little boxes to punctuate the information. This format is true for all the chapters and not only does it make the book extremely easy to navigate but helps to hone in on specific bits of information within each larger category as well.
The end of the book includes three Appendix sections including resources (books and websites), a glossary of terms and finally a quiz to determine our own footprint. After completing reading the section I was most interested in it was clear that the level of available information could not be matched in any of the other books I owned and I went back to the beginning to read through the entire book in just two nights! When I came to the very end my brain was buzzing with such a great feeling I was truly inspired -- this book is one of the reasons I started writing this blog, researching local groups and decidedly becoming more involved in maintaining the environment around me. For all of these reasons and more I recommend that everyone check this book out (as a side note I checked with my local library to see if it could literally be checked out however the network of libraries that includes my town does not carry this particular title however I strongly encourage everyone to look into that in their own area as a greener option).
With all of this in mind I am bestowing a Five Green Leaf Rating on this wonderful resource material!
To purchase the title you can either click on the cover image above and be taken to Barnes and Noble online or feel free to check out the Adams Media associated website where the book can be purchased direct.Please note the cover photo is not stolen from the internet but is my own book which I scanned in.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Happy Trails To You
A couple days ago we discussed some of the ways to have a more environmentally conscious holiday season. One of the largest contributors of carbon emissions is through travel in a vehicle. For those who are traveling by car it is important to ensure proper maintenance is done prior to leaving on the big adventure so carbon emissions are reduced. There are three easy solutions for quick and inexpensive maintenance that will greatly help -- changing out the air filter, proper tire inflation and tread and reducing drag.
The videos below are just over a minute long or less and show how easy it can be to do these simple fixes ourselves. Of course the option to take the car in to a mechanic for a complete maintenance overhaul is always a great idea before a long road trip but it is best to contact the repair shop of choice at least two weeks prior to the scheduled travel date to ensure an appointment is available, especially at the holiday season when hours may be different or appointments are booked out well in advance.
This video shares how to change the air filter on our cars. Changing the air filter allows the car to intake proper oxygen levels thereby reducing engine contaminates and providing better overall gas mileage. An air filter is relatively inexpensive considering the importance; a standard filter for my Toyota Corolla will run about $15 at a local Auto Zone.
In this video we learn the importance, not just for environmental reasons but safety as well, for proper tire inflation and tread. A tire gauge can be purchased at any auto parts store and they are generally about $3.00 for the pen style (please note there are digital models available that are more expensive). Some pen style gauges like the one seen in this video also have a tread gauge attached. The cost will go up only slightly for this addition.
One of our newest readers, Hyla of Green Earth Journey, made a fantastic recommendation to lessen the stuff in our vehicles to reduce drag and improve gas mileage. For many families there will be at least one child in the car which can significantly up the stuff factor. So what do we do to lessen the burden? First estimate how long of a trip it will be. If a family visit will last a couple weeks why not consider shipping a small box of toys or other items in advance; one full shipping truck is a great improvement over 50 half full vehicles. For shorter trips, be sure to take only what is needed for the time that will be spent. Before leaving on the journey, open up all areas of the vehicle and remove what is not needed. Many times we are on the go and unused items can build up in a vehicle and become forgotten. A good example of this is my own trunk; I carry my ladder with me to job sites but it certainly does not need to accompany me to Thanksgiving dinner. Remove the unneeded items from the interior areas (do not forget to check the trunk and recycle whatever possible) and then bring the car to a car wash for a quick scrub and vacuum. Removing all excess from the vehicle including dirt and debris will greatly improve the efficiency of the automobile.
For a total investment of less than a tank of gas, we can all travel safer and more environmentally friendly this holiday season.
The videos below are just over a minute long or less and show how easy it can be to do these simple fixes ourselves. Of course the option to take the car in to a mechanic for a complete maintenance overhaul is always a great idea before a long road trip but it is best to contact the repair shop of choice at least two weeks prior to the scheduled travel date to ensure an appointment is available, especially at the holiday season when hours may be different or appointments are booked out well in advance.
This video shares how to change the air filter on our cars. Changing the air filter allows the car to intake proper oxygen levels thereby reducing engine contaminates and providing better overall gas mileage. An air filter is relatively inexpensive considering the importance; a standard filter for my Toyota Corolla will run about $15 at a local Auto Zone.
In this video we learn the importance, not just for environmental reasons but safety as well, for proper tire inflation and tread. A tire gauge can be purchased at any auto parts store and they are generally about $3.00 for the pen style (please note there are digital models available that are more expensive). Some pen style gauges like the one seen in this video also have a tread gauge attached. The cost will go up only slightly for this addition.
One of our newest readers, Hyla of Green Earth Journey, made a fantastic recommendation to lessen the stuff in our vehicles to reduce drag and improve gas mileage. For many families there will be at least one child in the car which can significantly up the stuff factor. So what do we do to lessen the burden? First estimate how long of a trip it will be. If a family visit will last a couple weeks why not consider shipping a small box of toys or other items in advance; one full shipping truck is a great improvement over 50 half full vehicles. For shorter trips, be sure to take only what is needed for the time that will be spent. Before leaving on the journey, open up all areas of the vehicle and remove what is not needed. Many times we are on the go and unused items can build up in a vehicle and become forgotten. A good example of this is my own trunk; I carry my ladder with me to job sites but it certainly does not need to accompany me to Thanksgiving dinner. Remove the unneeded items from the interior areas (do not forget to check the trunk and recycle whatever possible) and then bring the car to a car wash for a quick scrub and vacuum. Removing all excess from the vehicle including dirt and debris will greatly improve the efficiency of the automobile.
For a total investment of less than a tank of gas, we can all travel safer and more environmentally friendly this holiday season.
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