Hello all!

Welcome to my first blogging experience on here.

I absolutely love the idea of going green, too bad it took me this long to feel this way. I have started recycling through my trash service and it is only about six dollars more every three months. I didn't even realize this was an option until I started calling around! I'm sure, if this option is available in Wichita, Kansas, then recycling through your trash service might be an even greater possibility. The only worry that I express with this option? I'm not sure that it is actually going into a recycle center. I know that we do have a large company (Weyerhauser Recycling) who recycles just about anything you can think of; soooo possibly my trash service (Lies Trash) is sort of a middle men for them. I hope!

Next on my agenda, building a community green house. I want this so badly...I can smell the fresh manure! I really don't know how to go about this zany idea. Do I look for investors? I imagine that Most of the people that I live around are in the same financial state that I'm in: Paycheck to paycheck or worse, so what's a girl to do?

Another "green" project that I'm working on is remodeling my small house. Why OH Why is building green SOOO expensive!? I have one of the smallest, two bedroom houses on the planet (well, okay...not that small) and I have been pricing "alternative" energy sources and I'm blown away. How is a limited budget supposed to convert, especially since the time is NOW? The house is not livable right now, we have to gut the bathroom, replace the windows, install a new heating and cooling unit, and place a fence around the property (dogs, yo). I would like to go as green as possible or no, I take that back...I want to go COMPLETELY green! Would love to save the planet and my budget from another cold winter or flippin crazy "smokin" hot summer. I have large leafed trees that grow in the front of the house, so that saves a bit of energy for cooling; but I would really love to be able to cut out so much more. Who do I have to coerce out of a cool million for these projects? HMMMM? Could that be you reader? Would you like to fork over a cool mil. so that I can live green. I know you worked for your dollars, or maybe you didn't and you feel like a King and just Want...no NEED to throw around some big cash. I propose that if you threw that money my way, I would put it to GREAT use. I could even get off my lazy arse and take before and after photos...proving my vow of selfish good. :) Yea, well a girl has to try...right?

Take care all who read this and happy green evolving!

Elizabeth

With the savory scent of summer grilling in the air, here's how to pick the best meat, fish, fowl and veggies for your outdoor cooking. Article written by David Worthman, published on The Green Guide.

As the days grow longer and warmer, grillers across the country will be sizzling and flipping their way through millions of burgers, chicken pieces and fish fillets. Americans eat, on average, 67 pounds of beef and 59.2 pounds of chicken per person, per year, most of it from "concentrated animal feeding operations" (CAFOs). This year, the American Public Health Association has asked that state governments impose moratoriums on new CAFOs due to the pollution and health threats posed by factory farms. Our seafood consumption, which hovered at around 15 pounds per capita until 2000, is expected to rise 26 percent by 2020—provided that fisheries aren't depleted by overfishing.

READ MORE of David Worthman's artile
www.thegreenguide.com

WASHINGTON - Americans rank last in a new National Geographic-sponsored survey released Wednesday that compares environmental-consumption habits in 14 countries.

Americans were least likely to choose the greener option in three out of four categories - housing, transportation and consumer goods, according to the assessment. In the fourth category, food, Americans ranked ahead of Japanese consumers, who eat more meat and seafood.

The rankings, called "Greendex," are the first to compare the lifestyles and behaviors of consumers in multiple countries, according to the National Geographic Society.

It plans to conduct the 100-plus-question survey annually and considers trends more important than yearly scores, said Terry Garcia, executive vice president of National Geographic's mission programs.

"This is not just a one-time snapshot," Garcia said. "Some of the most important information may yet be revealed."
India and Brazil tied for the highest score: 60 points out of 100. U.S. consumers scored 44.9.

In between, China scored 56.1, Mexico 54.2, Hungary 53.2, Russia 52.4, Great Britain 50.2, Germany 50.2, Australia 50.2, Spain 50, Japan 49.1, France 48.7 and Canada 48.5.

Results are based on 1,000 online respondents per country interviewed in January and February by GlobeScan, an international polling firm.

To see how you score, take an abbreviated version of the survey at National Geographic Greendex

How Americans ranked among 14 nations in eco-friendly choices.
Transportation: 14th Place
Housing: 14th Place
Consumer Goods: 14th Place
Food: 13th Place

Source: McClatchy Newspapers
Above article printed in Arizona Republic

Bank of America supports the Brighter Planet Visa Card. very $1,000 spent in purchases with the card earns 1,000 points♦ that will fund an estimated 1 ton of carbon offsets—that’s roughly equivalent to taking a car off the road for 2,000 miles or powering and heating/cooling your home for a month!

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“Planners have granted permission to build Sherford, a brand new town for 12,000 people, in South Devon that is billed as Britain’s greenest settlement. Work is expected to begin later this year to transform rolling countryside near Plymouth into the experimental new town with 5,500 homes. In Sherford, cars will be banned from some parts and 390ft wind turbines will loom over a 400-acre car park on the outskirts.”

Half the power needs for the new town will come from renewable sources — with all home sporting solar panels. Additionally, most of the materials to build the town will be sourced from a 50-mile radius! The business section — which will provides jobs for about 7,000 people — will be covered in either green roofs or “covered in a thin layer of rubble to attract insects and birds.” Everything about the town will be organized to encourage walking; not to mention all waste including water and sewage will be recycled to cut CO2 emissions. All of this, and Charles intends to give it a traditional English charm — with the theme being modeled on the Wiltshire market town of Marlborough.

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Article provided By: www.http://www.dailymail.co.uk

A young Canadian inventor named Ben Gulak has created an innovative new electric motorbike that takes some of the lessons learned from the Segway device, but implements them in cooler package. The bike, called the Uno, looks from its profile like a strange powered unicycle but actually employs two wheels side-by-side. Riders lean forward to accelerate -- a feature used by the Segway, and can hit a top speed of 25 mph in its current configuration. The Uno also makes use of a set of gyros to enhance ease of balance, and the wheels are independently operated making turning much more precise.

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Site provided by www.treehugger.com

TreeHugger reports that train travel in the UK has reached an all-time high.

Brit's are taking trains in greater numbers than any other time since World War 2. New figures revealed that the number of miles travelled on the rail network reached a record-breaking high of 30.1 billion during 2007. Passenger numbers have been increasing every year for the past thirteen.

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Site provided by www.treehugger.com

Hey groupies

 I live in a condo complex in NW Calgary that from the outside seems to be a modern upbeat community. WRONG.  I dont think it is too much to ask that these places have recycling centers, it is 2008 afterall.  So this is what i am proposing, Making some flyers demanding that there be at the very least bins that can be used, ask all people in the building to stop using plastic grocery bags, and just to overall try and be a little greener in their living.  I think it would be a cool thing to see these types of flyers/posters all over similar ares that you come across.  Let me know what you think

 John

ARE YOU AN ECODAREDEVIL? 11th Hour Expert, J. Nichols awards the most courageous Eco-warrior at Duke this Earth Day. Read his keynote speech here:

"In the 1970’s, I idolized Evel Knievel. He was rock star, sports hero, and folk legend in one. His death-defying jumps inspired me to launch my bicycle over puddles and many a hapless friend.

Now, I find new inspiration in my childhood hero. In 1961, before he became “Evel,” Robert Craig Knievel hitchhiked with the rack of a bull elk from Montana to our nation’s capital to protest the culling of elk in Yellowstone. The Kennedy administration responded and countless elk were saved.

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Buy The 11th Hour on DVD! Purchase a copy for your friends, family, co-workers and colleagues.

Only $4.99 at Amazon.com. Click here to read more!