Naturally Earth Friendly

In the past week, I’ve received two bags of phone books - the exact same two bags from the exact same company. Each bag consists of two phone books. I haven’t used a phone book, let alone looked at a phone book - to recycle it, in over 5 years. The idea of so many trees being cut down for something I don’t even want to be delivered every year had me slightly irked. I’m sure many of you out there understand my feelings of frustration.

Then I was finally able to get online (been sick for 3 days) and I caught up with my Ideal Bites. Lucky me, one of the e-mails was “Wanna study up on how to stop getting phonebooks?”

Did you know that about 540 million unsolicited phonebooks will arrive at American doorsteps annually? Thankfully they included ways to opt-out and I thought I’d share them with you. If you’re lucky enough to not have received one yet, try YellowPagesGoesGreen to be removed from the list. If you have them sitting in your darkest closest collecting dust, you can find out how to recycle them at Earth911.

If you would also like fun and free eco living tips delivered Monday through Friday to your inbox - check out IdealBite.com

A pioneer in the industry since 1973, Chicago based ShoreBank focused on economically helping those communities that other banks avoided – whether based on race or income, they were discriminated against. ShoreBank found a niche in helping to revitalize forgotten communities, becoming profitable after only 2 years in operation. In 2000, they realized the world was not as they hoped it would be. Instead of accepting this ShoreBank decided to expand their focus to help environmental issues. They realized that these communities could not fully achieve economic prosperity without simultaneously building strong sustainable communities.

Mission: ShoreBank invests in people and their communities to create economic equity and a healthy environment.

Specifically the ShoreBank Pacific, a partnership between ShoreBank Corporation and EcoTrust, was the first commercial bank to support environmentally sustainable development in our nation. Not only are they contributing jobs to their local communities, the science staff will help their business customers identify sustainable business practices while often helping that client redirect more resources to continue and grow their business.

Dedicated to preserving our communities and environment, ShoreBank has announced they will be making a $25 donation to Green For All for each person who funds a ShoreBank Direct Online High Yield Savings Account through the end of November.

“That’s why we are pleased to work with businesses like ShoreBank who stand up for people and the planet. They will be key partners in the work ahead.” - Green For All

Bottom line: ShoreBank has a compelling mission, is socially responsible, and is environmentally friendly. These are things one would not normally associate with a bank. But that’s just our point. ShoreBank is unlike every other bank out there. With a 35 year history, its’ mission-based and morally conscious ways of being have helped it stand out above the rest. ShoreBank will continue to be a forward thinker in helping to rebuild the planet sustainably and economically.

* Special thanks to Tracy for informing Naturally Earth Friendly about this amazing opportunity to bank with those that believe in protecting our nation’s underserved urban communities while protecting our environment.

If you’re looking for a way to let others know you’re Organic and want to share the message while at home or at work, then check out these Magnets from I’m Organic. Perfect for the car or the fridge, these magnets are made with at least 10% recycled materials. At 4″ by 4″ they are a fun and colorful way to spread the “I’m Organic” message - and they’re only $1.99!!! Perfect for any stocking this eco-holiday season.

Whether it’s a simple smiley face or intricate design that takes hours to carve, Jack’o Lantern’s are a favorite for any Halloween lover - adults and kids alike. It’s also a quick lived enjoyment, as pumpkins will only last for maybe a week before they need to be tossed out or added to the compost pile. Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood came up with an alternative, as you can see below. Just bring your pumpkin to the park and have a pumpkin party. You’ll be able to stroll through hundreds of jack’o lanterns for your enjoyment.

Apparently salt has over 14,000 different uses, according to the Salt Institute, and only a small percentage has to do with food consumption. These are a few of the more interesting uses of salt in your household.

Are your eggs fresh? Add 2 teaspoons of salt to a cup of water and add your egg. If it floats it’s questionable, but if it sinks it’s fresh.

Tired of bitter, overcooked coffee? Just add a pinch of salt to not only enhance the flavor, but to remove some of the bitterness it gets when overcooked.

Did you know that Americans each consume more than 16 tons of salt in their lifetime?

Stop mold growing on your cheese by wrapping it in a saltwater dampened towel before placing it in the refrigerator.

Extinguish your grease fires by tossing salt to smother the flames. If you were to use water you’d spatter the burning grease and that wouldn’t be good.

Forget Mr. Plumber, simply create a strong salt brine and pour that down your sink drains. Not only will you help eliminate odors, but stop grease from building up.

Stop your milk from souring, just add a pinch of salt to help it keep longer.

If you’ve just spilled wine on tablecloth, you’ll need to blot up what you can, then cover the stain with salt to absorb what’s left. You can then later rinse it with cold water.

For more interesting tips on using salt, including health and beauty tips, visit the Salt Institute.

Since I was out of town last week, it’s taken a while to get back in the swing of things. I decided to visit a few of my other favorite Earth Friendly blogs. When I went to Ecorazzi.com I… I don’t even know what to type. I am so sad from watching this advertisement.

I was thoroughly warned that this might bring tears. Not being the most sensitive or emotional girl around, I watched it - merely for the mention of “Portuguese.” My husband is of Portuguese heritage and I like to pay attention whenever it’s mentioned.

Below you’ll find the advertisement created by Quercus, an extremely sad view of what might happen if we stop trying to save our planet and it’s animal inhabitants. It’s animated, but a little graphic at one point. The idea is driven home hard, so if you’re going to watch it and you tend to tear up easily - do what Ecorazzi.com suggests and have some tissue on hand.

In this day and age, everyone has electronics in their house or apartment. Televisions, DVD players, computers (monitors, towers, speakers, printer, etc.), cell phones, the list goes on and on. And for those of us wanting to save electricity, whether because we’re eco-friendly or just want to save on our monthly electric bill, this might help.

My husband works at Fry’s Electronics and one day a battery backup was on sale so he brought it home for me. The CyberPower 1500AVR with LCD screen, normally between $150 and $200 was ours for just under $100. I plugged my computer and all the accessories into it and whenever I’m not at home or go to bed, I simply shut everything down and press the power button on the battery backup. It stops the other electronics from pulling power, even though they are off.

So if you’re going to run out and get one, they sell some for less than $50, but I’d suggest waiting for a good one to go on sale. For example, you have two computers plugged in and your power goes out, you might have 2 minutes to flip the switch, but if you only had one computer plugged in you might have 10 minutes. The larger, and more expensive ones, have more juice to be used. You definitely pay for quality, so do your research.

Consumers spend money. Plain and simple.
America is in debt. We all know this.
Use a credit card with rewards and get something back. Not a new concept.

Getting rewards for purchasing eco-friendly items? That’s just great marketing!

I just came across UNB’s newest Rewards credit card, the Eco Rewards Visa Platinum Card. That’s a concept. We all spend money and most of us know how to use a credit card to get cash back; or merchandise, travel rewards, or gift cards. And how many of Americans today are buying the Energy Star® appliances? More than a few. It’s nice that a credit card company finally thought this one up. We can now earn double points for qualified, environmentally friendly purchases.

This new kind of rewards credit card won’t just benefit us, the consumer, but will benefit the environment when we purchase those “qualified, environmentally friendly purchases.” It’s simple; earn one point for every dollar in purchases, two points for every dollar of interest billed, and an additional point if it’s a qualifying “green” purchase.

Some of the “qualified, environmentally friendly purchases” include items labeled with ENERGY STAR®‡, Green Seal™‡ or FSC®‡ (Forest Stewardship Council). Other examples of qualifying green purchases include CFL light bulbs, Seventh Generation® paper towels, ENERGY STAR®‡ appliances and many, many more items.

If you’re thinking about a new kind of Rewards card, this is definitely worth a look. Click here for more information.

Houses are being made Green, designed to be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Big surprise, that’s not a new concept. Using a Air Boeing 747 and turning into the house of your dreams definitely is. I’m surprised John Travolta didn’t come up with this first. He loves planes, I mean he has a son named Jet.

But this new idea was thought up by innovative California architect David Hertz and his firm, Studio of Environmental Architecture. Currently a work in progress, the 747 Wing House is expected to be completed in 2009. And in it’s main house and 6 additional structure believe me it’s not short of environmental features.

Thinking outside of the box, this unique compound in Malibu will take about a year to finish and cost around $2 million.

Located on 55 acres, this multi-structure compound is north of Malibu. It possesses panoramic views of mountains, a valley, and the ocean, not to mention distant island views. Designed for Francie Rehwald as a Mountain Retreat, . Francie is an environmentalist and major supporter of the arts in California.

The material used is 100% post-consumer waste, solar power, radiant heating, natural ventilation and high performance heat mirror glazing. What haven’t they thought of?

Various parts once carried more than 500 people at a time around the world, it took only $40,000 to get it from a junkyard. And they aren’t just inserting a living area into the plane, but completely disassembling the planes’ components to create the compound. They want to use as many of it’s pieces as they can in the design and structre. At over 2,500 sq. ft., the wing of a 747 was a perfect fit for the floating roofs and reasonably priced at less than $50,000. Apparently they need to register the roof with the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, that way pilots overhead won’t mistake it for a fallen aircraft.

Did you know that American consumers and industry throw away enough aluminum in a year to rebuild our entire airplane commercial fleet every three months? For other unique solutions to the recycling of aluminum, particularly soda cans, click here.

I love to see things that are considered outside the box. The 747 Dream House fits into that category. And a Green Mini-Golf followed suit.

What do you think about when you hear “Water Hazard”? Take a look at this.

Water Hazard at Green Mini-Golf.

Probably not what you’d expect, huh? This is one of the many clever new holes you can find at Walker on the Green, located at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The idea of dangling plastic water bottles was thought of by the Alchemy Architects of St. Paul. Not only offering a more difficult putt, but as they put it “serves as an observation of the less-than-ecological practice of bottling and shipping drinking water.”

Holes were created by various artists as well as students, like Kevin Kane’s class who created a rainwater garden and a hillside of pop-bottle bottoms.

Offering two seven-hold courses that share a final hole, the design layout allows more people to play throughout the day. You can expect to spend about an hour. But hurry, this exhibit will only be in place through September 7, 2008.