Supernatural Botanicals

• It takes 90% less energy to recycle aluminum cans than to make new ones.
• The garbage in a landfill stays for a for about 30 years. In 1995 over 200 of the world’s landfills were full.
• Each person throws away approximately four pounds of garbage every day. If we are cognizant, we can reduce that…a lot!
• Most lighters are made out of plastic and filled with butane fuel, both petroleum products. Over 1.5 billion end up in landfills each year.
• Going Green” doesn’t have to be a daunting task that means sweeping life changes. Start by planting a tree in your backyard.
• Lighting an empty office wastes enough energy to boil water for a 1000 cups of coffee and doubles a company’s annual electric bill.
• Adjust your thermostat 1 degree higher in the summer and 1 degree cooler in the winter. Each degree less will save about 10% on energy use.
• Nearly 90% of plastic water bottles are not recycled, instead taking thousands of years to decompose. Why? It’s so very easy to recycle.
• Recycling just the Sunday papers would save more than half a million trees every week.
• A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.
• A laptop is more environment friendly than a desktop. It consumes five times less electricity.
• A plant on your desk acts as a natural filter, absorbing airborne pollutants and computer radiation while replenishing oxygen levels.
• An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now! It’s so easy to recycle. Please do!
• Everytime we burn oil, coal and gas to generate electricity and power, we produce the heat trapping gases that cause global warming.
• Average number of pounds of paper used annually by every American: 680
• Number of gallons of water wasted by a leaky faucet dripping once per second: 2,700
• Eco Facts: Number of trees required by every American to meet their yearly demand for paper and wood products: 7

Did you know that plasma-screen high-definition TVs can use nearly twice as much energy as their LCD screen counterparts, and more than three times as much as the standard models?  TVs account for 4 percent of our energy use nationally.  With plasma screens, that could reach 8 percent or more before the decade is out. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxi-OlkmxZ4

 Dispose of electronics properly.  Green tips to keep in mind:

• Keep your cell phones, computers, and other electronics as long as possible.
• Donate or recycle them responsibly when the time comes. E-waste contains mercury and other toxins and is a growing environmental problem.
• Recycle your cell phone.

Go Green at work.  With the availability of instant messaging, video conferencing, and other innovative workflow tools, it makes telecommuting a reality.  If you have the option to telecommute, take it.  It saves you commute time in the car (sparing your time and the air), gas money and tons of money you’d spend on lunches.  Time taken off from work is practically non-existent for telecommuters (because you can drag yourself to your home office looking miserable with a cold, where as you’d be far more inclined to call in if you worked in an office environment.)  Telecommuting works for 44 million Americans.  I love that TreeHugger’s staff works from their home offices! 

Can’t telecommute?  Then stack it up.  Work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days a week, cutting the energy and time spent on commuting by 20% …not to mention a three-day weekend.

Find more great design ideals at Hooked On Houses.

It’s late September and summer is feeling like it’s over.  I had such a great spring/summer growing season (see picture) with flowers, herbs, vegetables, peppers, etc.  May is such a perfect time to find the greenest of greens in nature.  But fall definitely has its perks, too…especially for colors.  Fall definitely has its advantages in the style department…think hats, boots, beautiful soft sweaters and scarves.  Yum!

Goodbye to summer.

A perfect green utopia!  A green city of the future…whose ready to move?  I know I’d certainly sign mortgage papers in this car-free, waste-free, carbon-free land of green perfection.  Check out this clip for a look at a perfect green city. 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4zh0p2veZk

Green’s mantra is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  Did you know that by reducing plastic bag consumption by just two bags per week, you’ll throw away at least 100 fewer bags per year.  If tied together, handle to handle, these plastic bags would make a rope long enough to wrap around the earth more than 126 times. 

You can purchase canvas bags for about $1.00 a piece.  They are stylish, green, and so much better for the environment than plastic bags.  It’s one simple way to becoming more eco-responsible. 

An eco-idea:  Planting mint near a downspout fills your garden with its fresh scent after every rain shower.